Departmental Data Protection

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his Department uses WPA2 encryption protocol on all its wireless networks.

Ann McKechin: Information is a key asset to Government and its correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of HMG. The Security Policy Framework, the Data Handling Report and the National Information Assurance Strategy produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handles and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.
	The Scotland Office does not have any wireless networks. Any possible wireless networks would follow CESG guidance on the use of the Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) communications security protocols in order to protect wireless networks carrying protectively marked (up to restricted/IL3) traffic. The configuration and operation standards for WPA2 are set out in CESG's Infosec Manual Y, Use of WPA2 Wireless Security in Government Systems.

Departmental Data Protection

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what IT security policy his Department has; what procedures are in place to ensure the policy is being followed; what his Department's policy is on encryption of data when it leaves departmental premises; and what sanctions are in place for failure to comply with this policy.

Ann McKechin: Information is a key asset to Government and its correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of HMG. The Security Policy Framework, the Data Handling Report and the National Information Assurance Strategy produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handle and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.
	The Scotland Office shares an information technology system (SCOTS) with the Scottish Executive, which is responsible for the development, administration (including data compliance and security) and maintenance of the system. Under this arrangement, the Scotland Office is compliant with the security policies contained in the Government Security Policy Framework including those for information security and assurance.

High Speed Two: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding his Department has agreed to provide to High Speed Two Ltd.

Paul Clark: The company "High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd." will be provided with grants totalling up to £5 million over the course of 2009. This will be reviewed in the light of detailed work planning by "High Speed Two".

National Networks Strategy Group

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times the National Networks Strategy Group has met since it was established; and what matters were discussed at each meeting.

Paul Clark: The National Networks Strategy Group has met four times since it was established on 29 October 2008. The Group has discussed how to make best use of the existing key networks and considered longer term solutions for strategic transport corridors. Some of this work contributed to the 15 January oral statement on "Britain's Transport Infrastructure". This announced the £6 billion programme of managed motorway schemes, progress on the electrification of our rail network, and the creation of the company "High Speed Two", to report by the end of the year on a new high speed line between London and the West Midlands.

Roads: Safety

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Ribble Valley of 6 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1874W on roads: safety, if he will make it his policy to place in the Library the results of the first round of road safety partnership grants as soon as they have been completed.

Jim Fitzpatrick: An assessment of the effectiveness of road safety partnership grants in England is in progress. It will be completed when results from the first round of projects are available.
	This first round of road safety partnership grant projects in England is due for completion this spring with evaluation reports due between March 2009 and March 2010. The scheduling of the reporting is influenced by the need to measure and evaluate some of the impacts of projects after they have been completed.
	An overview of the key outcomes and lessons learned from some of the projects within the first round of the Road Safety Partnership Grant Scheme is currently underway and a 'headline impact' report is planned for publication later this spring.
	A copy of this report will be placed in the Library. The policy is that, in general, material related to the evaluation of local projects will be published on the Department for Transport website.

Departmental Internet

Mark Hoban: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn, Hatfield of 28 January 2009,  Official Report, column 581W, on the departmental internet, how many hits each of the websites maintained by the Government Equalities Office received in each of the last 12 months.

Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office (GEO) maintains one website. The GEO has been able to count hits at:
	www.equalities.gov.uk
	since the website was transferred to a new system in July 2008. Statistics since then are as follows:
	
		
			  Month  Number of hits 
			  2008  
			 July 9,797 
			 August 40,318 
			 September 5,062 
			 October 88,058 
			 November 14,933 
			 December 53,631 
			   
			  2009  
			 January 19,165 
			 February 21,887 
			 March (to 9 March 2009) 9,290

Equality: Business

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what estimate she has made of the costs to business of the proposals on the public procurement process to be contained in the Single Equality Bill.

Maria Eagle: The Government are continuing to explore whether we can do more to encourage public authorities to use procurement to further equality outcomes. We are examining legislative and non-legislative options taking account of EU procurement rules and the need for value for money.

Expert Equality Taskforce

Bob Neill: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality when she expects the Expert Equality Taskforce to report; what the membership of the taskforce is; and what declarations of political activity have been made by each member.

Maria Eagle: I am not aware of a body called the Expert Equality Taskforce. However, the National Equality Panel has been established by the London School of Economics with a grant from the Government Equalities Office. The Panel has been asked to report by the end of 2009 on the relationships between different aspects of inequality in people's economic situations, and their other characteristics and circumstances. Professor John Hills was appointed chair; who then appointed the remaining nine members, as independent experts in particular aspects of equality. They are: Mike Brewer, Professor Stephen Jenkins, Professor Steve Machin, Professor Colin Mills, Professor Ruth Lister, Professor Sheila Riddell, Professor Teresa Rees, Dr. Ruth Lupton and Professor Tariq Modood. Further details of the Panel and its membership can be found on the Government Equalities Office website at:
	http://www.equalities.gov.uk/national_equality_panel.aspx
	The National Equality Panel is not a non departmental public body, and does not have a register of political interests.

Prostitution: Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues on the provision of services for women who have been trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation.

Maria Eagle: We believe that existing mechanisms (the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking and the Home Office NGO Stakeholder Group) provide appropriate forums for discussion and advocacy on issues surrounding trafficking for sexual exploitation, as well as allowing for close scrutiny of progress on the Action Plan and the Council of Europe Convention.
	As Minister for Women and Equality, I ensure all Government Departments are considering the specific concerns of vulnerable women. The Home Office and the UK Border Agency continue to work with our international partners both to raise awareness of human trafficking and further strengthen our ability to prevent this crime taking place.

Departmental Marketing

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1415W, on departmental marketing, how much of the total for 2007-08 was spent on  (a) media advertising,  (b) promotion and  (c) education packs and initiatives for schools.

Shaun Woodward: The following table illustrates the Department's expenditure, excluding its agencies and executive NDPBs, on media advertising, promotion and education packs and initiatives for schools in 2007-08:
	
		
			  Expenditure type  2007-08 expenditure (£) 
			 Media advertising 371,038 
			 Promotion 67,827 
			 Education packs and initiatives for schools 34,547 
		
	
	Some of these figures also include crime prevention initiative costs which are not part of the original advertising costs quoted in the answer of 5 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1415W.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to answer question 248253, on loss of departmental property, tabled on 12 January 2009.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 11 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 433-34W.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many units of  (a) blood platelets and  (b) blood plasma transported to Afghanistan for use by the armed forces were destroyed because they were past their use-by date in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: Records held by the MOD reflect the difference between the amount of blood supplied to operations and the amount transfused. From August 2007 to the end of February 2009, the difference between the amount of blood supplied to Afghanistan and the amount transfused was 265 units of blood platelets and 327 units of fresh frozen plasma. Each unit contains approximately 300 ml. There are a number of reasons for this difference, for example expiration of the use-by date, damage in transit or accidental exposure to high temperature.
	Prior to August 2007, information was not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Health Services

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of levels of cleanliness in medical centres operated by his Department.

Kevan Jones: In 2008, MOD's Surgeon General invited the Healthcare Commission to carry out a review of the Defence Medical Services' (DMS) clinical governance processes to help benchmark the DMS' achievement, and help them to continue to meet a high standard of care for Service Personnel by identifying those areas where improvement was needed.
	The Commission's Report, published on 2 March, identified some areas where we must improve, including levels of cleanliness in some of our primary care medical centres. Action has already started to address the issues raised by the Commission, and the Surgeon General has instigated further work across the DMS to identify any other locations with similar problems so that appropriate action can be taken.
	We welcome the review's recommendations, which will help the DMS continue to drive quality improvement as well as recognising where we are already demonstrating best practice in delivering healthcare.

Members: Correspondence

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will reply to the letter of 2 March 2009 from a constituent of the hon. Member for South West Devon, Mrs Popperwell.

Kevan Jones: While the Department aims to respond to all correspondence within 15 working days of receipt, we have no central record of a letter from the hon. Member's constituent.

Military Aircraft

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1366W, on Hercules aircraft; what the average annual estimated hourly usage over the 30 years' expected service life of the Hercules C-130J is.

Quentin Davies: Our current planning assumes that the average annual usage of the C-130J Hercules aircraft will be 824 flying hours per platform per year.

Military Aircraft

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1440W, on future large aircraft, what the contractually agreed delivery dates are for each tranche of aircraft to be delivered between March 2010 and April 2015; and what the liquidated damages are for late delivery against contractually specified delivery dates.

Quentin Davies: The contracted delivery dates for UK A400M aircraft are as follows:
	
		
			  UK A/C  Delivery dates 
			 1 March 2010 
			 2 April 2010 
			 3 August 2010 
			 4 September 2010 
			 5 October 2010 
			 6 November 2010 
			 7 December 2010 
			 8 May 2011 
			 9 June 2011 
			 10 July 2011 
			 11 September 2011 
			 12 October 2011 
			 13 November 2011 
			 14 December 2011 
			 15 February 2012 
			 16 April 2012 
			 17 May 2012 
			 18 June 2012 
			 19 December 2012 
			 20 March 2013 
			 21 March 2014 
			 22 March 2014 
			 23 August 2014 
			 24 December 2014 
			 25 April 2015 
		
	
	I am withholding the precise details of the liquidated damages as release would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests.

Military Aircraft

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 133-4W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, in what ways the Merlin MK3/3a helicopters have been upgraded.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1363-64W, to the hon. Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth).

Departmental Lost Property

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what property has been lost or stolen from his Department in the last 12 months; and what the estimated cost was of replacement of such property.

Michael Foster: Nine laptops and two mobile phones were lost/stolen from the Department for International Development (DFID) during the period 2007-08.
	Replacement values are not recorded centrally and an exercise to obtain this information would incur disproportionate costs.
	All DFID laptops have secure encryption technology and no data has been put at risk.

Developing Countries: Maternity Services

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage the establishment of political initiatives for the purpose of meeting the Millennium Development Goals on maternal health.

Ivan Lewis: In September 2007, Prime Ministers Brown and Stoltenberg of Norway and other world leaders launched the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs and the Network of Global Leaders on MDGs 4 and 5. The Network of Global Leaders includes several heads of state including President Kikwete of Tanzania, President Bachelet of Chile, and President Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia.
	In September 2008, Prime Minister Brown and World Bank President Robert Zoellick launched the High Level Task Force on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems. The task force was established in response to the call for an additional US$ 30 billion to save the lives of 3 million mothers and 7 million babies. Other task force members include finance minister Gulio Tremonti of Italy, and Foreign Ministers Bernard Kouchner of France and Stephen Smith of Australia.
	Further information on the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs and the High Level Task Force is available on the DFID website:
	www.dfid.gov.uk

Economic Situation

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what  (a) summits,  (b) conferences and  (c) seminars his Department has hosted since January 2008 at which a primary subject for discussion was the impact of the economic situation on matters within his Department's responsibility.

Gareth Thomas: Responding to the economic downturn is a top priority for the Department for International Development (DFID), conference and seminars are some of the methods used to engage stakeholders in this work and ensure action is coordinated and effective.
	DFID has held many meetings regarding the financial crisis and its effects upon vulnerable and developing countries in the last year, most notably the recent 9 to 10 March DFID Annual Conference.
	In addition, Ministers and officials have regular engagements with other organisations including relevant Government Departments on a range of issues relating to the economy.

Palestinians: International Assistance

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1743W, on Palestinians: international assistance, what the monthly  (a) salary and  (b) other employment costs for the information officer employed by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Gaza with support from his Department are; under which categories his Department's contribution towards the information officer will be spent; and what plans his Department has to support the role beyond April 2009.

Douglas Alexander: The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Information Officer is a key post drawing together good quality reporting and analysis on humanitarian needs to enable donors to provide an effective response. The Department for International Development (DFID), at OCHA's request, provided funding for a short term three month post to cover a gap at OCHA while a long term secondee for this role was found. The secondee from another OCHA partner has now been engaged. The short-term post started on 23 February and will end on 22 May; DFID will not be providing further support after this date.
	DFID provides funding for the staff costs associated with the short-term post. The daily rate for the Information Officer is £415. DFID also funds the costs of travel and expenses related to the short-term post, and up to £212 per day for accommodation and subsistence (as per standard UN rates) for 90 days in Jerusalem.

Sri Lanka: Overseas Aid

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid has been provided by  (a) the UK and  (b) the EU to each region of Sri Lanka in the last (i) six months and (ii) two years; and what proportion of UK aid to Sri Lanka has been spent on (A) medical supplies, (B) food supplies, (C) housing and (D) education in the last 12 months.

Michael Foster: In the last six months, since September 2008, the Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated £5,000,000 of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka.
	Over the last two years (excluding the last six months) DFID has provided £1,781,740 of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka. The vast majority of this humanitarian aid supported activities of vulnerable and internally displaced populations in the north and east of Sri Lanka.
	The latest data on EU aid is from 2007, as official data for 2008 is not yet available. In 2007, EC aid payments to Sri Lanka were €39.34 million (£26.91 million at exchange rate £1 = €1.4615). The EU aid data is not available by region.
	All DFID humanitarian contributions are provided non-earmarked to Agency appeals and therefore cannot be broken down into region or supplies; with the exception of the £250,000 committed to IOM and £250,000 committed to the WFP. These funds are specifically for the transportation of inter agency relief items to the internally displaced populations in the north of Sri Lanka.

Departmental Public Expenditure

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 1239-40W, on departmental public expenditure, what estimate he has made of the additional sum each of his Department's overseas posts will require in  (a) 2008-09 and  (b) 2009-10 to maintain the purchasing power of each of their local budgets.

David Miliband: The information is as follows:
	 2008-09
	As of December 2008, a total of 186 posts required additional funds to maintain the purchasing power of their local budget. The total value of this was £59.20 million.
	The following table outlines the posts that required additional funds and the value of the funds required.
	 2009-10
	The amount of additional funds required for each post will depend on the value of sterling against foreign currencies over the course of the year. We estimate that at current exchange rates, an additional £30 million will be needed to maintain purchasing power.
	
		
			  Post  Total OPM impact as of December 2008 (£000) 
			 Abu Dhabi 395.75 
			 Abuja 1,058.78 
			 Accra 259.86 
			 Addis Ababa 141.39 
			 Algiers 339.34 
			 Amman 593.00 
			 Amsterdam 136.20 
			 Anguilla 47.33 
			 Ankara 401.95 
			 Ashgabat 85.42 
			 Asmara 29.12 
			 Astana 146.23 
			 Athens 631.70 
			 Atlanta 176.66 
			 Auckland 9.45 
			 Baghdad 773.81 
			 Bahrain 120.34 
			 Baku 387.76 
			 Bandar Seri Begawan 85.11 
			 Bangkok 392.90 
			 Banjul 81.62 
			 Basra 368.96 
			 Beijing 1,374.69 
			 Beirut 310.97 
			 Belgrade 453.89 
			 Belmopan 170.75 
			 Berlin 872.36 
			 Berne 483.56 
			 Bogota 375.72 
			 Bordeaux 17.86 
			 Boston 169.48 
			 Brasilia 529.07 
			 Bratislava 165.81 
			 Bridgetown 219.30 
			 Brisbane 26.91 
			 Brussels 1,701.03 
			 Bucharest 182.27 
			 Budapest 316.09 
			 Buenos Aires 624.21 
			 Cairo 456.27 
			 Canberra 300.18 
			 Cape Town 25.50 
			 Caracas 547.06 
			 Castries 26.36 
			 Chennai 65.57 
			 Chicago 230.69 
			 Chisinau 117.68 
			 Chongqing 219.85 
			 Colombo 486.48 
			 Copenhagen 97.27 
			 Dakar 84.86 
			 Damascus 151.03 
			 Dar Es Salaam 151.54 
			 Dhaka 453.41 
			 Doha 333.04 
			 Dubai 737.09 
			 Dublin 480.63 
			 Dushanbe 90.29 
			 Dusseldorf 586.74 
			 Ekaterinburg 72.64 
			 Freetown 120.24 
			 Gaborone 16.64 
			 Geneva 675.60 
			 Georgetown 95.73 
			 Grand Cayman 26.66 
			 Grand Turk 61.32 
			 Guangzhou 490.53 
			 Guatemala City 136.62 
			 Hanoi 216.46 
			 Havana 173.65 
			 Helsinki 337.74 
			 Ho Chi Minh City 100.10 
			 Hong Kong 743.04 
			 Honiara 26.67 
			 Houston 220.27 
			 Islamabad 485.29 
			 Istanbul 395.15 
			 Jakarta 233.47 
			 Jerusalem 361.28 
			 Johannesburg 21.68 
			 Kabul 1,446.03 
			 Kampala 123.73 
			 Karachi 148.22 
			 Kathmandu 32.95 
			 Khartoum 483.97 
			 Kiev 346.55 
			 Kigali 84.09 
			 Kingston 477.20 
			 Kinshasa 318.95 
			 Kolkata 27.01 
			 Kuala Lumpur 283.21 
			 Kuwait 493.12 
			 La Paz 125.01 
			 Lagos 1,376.79 
			 Lille 19.33 
			 Lilongwe 81.43 
			 Lima 253.19 
			 Lisbon 333.44 
			 Ljubljana 136.37 
			 Los Angeles 331.05 
			 Luanda 163.16 
			 Lusaka 184.61 
			 Luxembourg 92.36 
			 Lyon 15.30 
			 Madrid 1,384.83 
			 Manila 406.68 
			 Maputo 199.63 
			 Marseille 0.47 
			 Melbourne 50.05 
			 Mexico City 301.34 
			 Minsk 82.27 
			 Montevideo 229.84 
			 Montreal 16.92 
			 Moscow 590.09 
			 Mumbai 77.72 
			 Munich 152.92 
			 Muscat 328.45 
			 Nairobi 742.07 
			 New Delhi 525.75 
			 New York BCG 594.17 
			 New York UKMIS 647.20 
			 Nicosia 404.10 
			 Osaka 411.22 
			 Oslo 125.11 
			 Ottawa 277.22 
			 Panama City 108.17 
			 Paris 1,881.24 
			 Perth 22.87 
			 Phnom Penh 180.79 
			 Plymouth 60.92 
			 Port Louis 100.45 
			 Port Moresby 95.43 
			 Port of Spain 251.69 
			 Prague 473.18 
			 Pretoria 76.24 
			 Pristina 156.59 
			 Quito 115.63 
			 Rabat 331.98 
			 Rangoon 222.78 
			 Riga 159.62 
			 Rio de Janeiro 259.49 
			 Riyadh 877.42 
			 Rome 1,295.10 
			 San Francisco 196.27 
			 San Jose 97.86 
			 Sanaa 302.14 
			 Santiago 188.77 
			 Santo Domingo 51.52 
			 Sao Paulo 334.88 
			 Sarajevo 182.57 
			 Shanghai 530.04 
			 Singapore 469.54 
			 Skopje 250.24 
			 Sofia 289.02 
			 St. Georges 6.73 
			 St. Johns 11.45 
			 St. Petersburg 259.26 
			 Stockholm 265.15 
			 Strasbourg 8.37 
			 Suva 87.29 
			 Sydney 90.33 
			 Taipei 232.49 
			 Tallinn 158.16 
			 Tashkent 92.14 
			 Tbilisi 221.92 
			 Tehran 773.40 
			 Tel Aviv 577.53 
			 The Hague 384.80 
			 Tirana 76.69 
			 Tokyo 2,055.56 
			 Toronto 107.69 
			 Tortola 36.88 
			 Tripoli 392.85 
			 Tunis 151.92 
			 Ulaanbaatar 46.07 
			 Valletta 131.26 
			 Vancouver 39.23 
			 Vienna 659.49 
			 Vilnius 158.88 
			 Warsaw 539.53 
			 Washington 1,365.97 
			 Wellington 27.92 
			 Yaounde 109.04 
			 Yerevan 125.08 
			 Zagreb 236.49 
			 Total 59,226.09

Diplomatic Service: Finance

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1198W, on diplomatic services, from what budget the funding for special representatives and special envoys to particular countries and regions is drawn.

Gillian Merron: Some special representatives have been serving members of the diplomatic service with regional expertise. Their salary and administrative costs have been met by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
	Where external specialists have been appointed to a special representative role, they have normally been recruited on short-term contracts funded by the FCO.
	Other special envoys (for example those appointed by the Prime Minister) are normally unpaid but may have travel expenses refunded by the FCO.

Diplomatic Service: Finance

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1198W, on diplomatic services, what the annual cost to the public purse of each special representative and special envoy is; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: Only one of the special representatives listed in the answer of 27 February 2009 is still serving in that role.
	The special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan is a member of the diplomatic service in senior civil service pay band 3. The pay range for civil servants in pay band 3 is currently £99,960 to £205,000.
	Other special envoys (for example those appointed by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister) are normally unpaid but may have travel expenses refunded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iran: Banks

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department plans to take in response to the Financial Action Task Force's statement of 25 February 2009 on Iran; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Government's response to the Financial Action Taskforce's statement of 25 February 2009 on Iran is led by the Treasury. I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given on 9 March 2009 by my hon. Friend Ian Pearson, Minister of State at the Treasury, in response to his question of 4 March 2009, to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on this matter,  Official Report, column 100-01W. The response reads:
	'The Treasury has issued an advisory notice to all businesses regulated under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and all other persons authorised by the Financial Services Authority alerting them to the high-risk nature of transactions with Iran due to the serious deficiencies in its systems to combat money-laundering and terrorist financing. The Treasury is also actively considering what further steps may be necessary to ensure the UK financial sector is protected from this risk, and is in discussion with international partners.'

Members: Correspondence

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to reply to the letter of 5 December 2008 from the hon. Member for Forest of Dean on wild tigers, reference FD4668.

Gillian Merron: The hon. Member's letter was replied to on 11 March 2009.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take at the United Nations in respect of the reported rocket and mortar attack on the western Negev by Islamic Jihad on 26 February 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The UK has been consistent in its condemnation of all rocket attacks on Israel.
	We are committed to finding a solution to the conflict in the Middle East that allows Israel to feel secure in the region, alongside a viable Palestinian state.

Morocco and Israel: EU External Trade

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on the labelling of produce originating from territories occupied by  (a) Morocco and  (b) Israel.

Bill Rammell: On the labelling of produce originating from territories occupied by Israel, various Government departments such as the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Food Standards Agency are working together to provide retailers with clearer voluntary guidance on labelling best practice for produce sourced from the occupied Palestinian territories, that comply with our European Commission and World Trade Organisation obligations.
	There are no comparable guidelines in place for commercial products originating from the disputed territory of Western Sahara. The Government, however, maintain the position that the government of Morocco, as the 'de facto' administering power of Western Sahara, is obliged under international law to ensure that economic activities carried out under their administration do not adversely affect the interests of the people of Western Sahara.
	There are currently only two UK vessels operating in the waters off Western Sahara under the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement. All the fish caught are landed in Dakhla, Western Sahara and sold through the local market.

Tamils: Resettlement

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Sri Lankan Government on the conditions of resettlement camps established for Tamil refugees; and what assessment he has made of their compatibility with international standards.

Bill Rammell: We have had regular discussions with the Sri Lankan Government on the camps being set up for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
	We welcome the recent statement by the Government of Sri Lanka regarding the temporary nature of IDP camps. We welcome the commitment to return twenty per cent. of people to their place of origin by the end of April 2009 and the remaining eighty per cent. by the end of 2009.
	We are aware that certain humanitarian agencies have been given access to camps for IDPs. We welcome the recent visit to Sri Lanka by John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, and hope this leads to an improvement in the humanitarian situation in the camps.
	We continue to press for unrestricted access to all IDP sites for the humanitarian community, including donors, and we are working with the Government and international agencies to ensure that all IDP sites meet international standards, including freedom of movement and protection.

Venezuela: Anti-Semitism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1210W, on Venezuela: anti-Semitism, if he will place in the Library a copy of the letters written by HM Ambassador in Caracas to  (a) the synagogue's rabbi and  (b) to the leader of the Jewish community in Venezuela; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: I have today placed a copy of both letters in the Library of the House.

Venezuela: Anti-Semitism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the attack on the Sinaan Mordejay Community Centre in Caracas on 26 February 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: A pipe bomb was thrown at the Sinaan Mordejay Community Centre on 26 February 2009. While there was no major damage and no injuries, we are concerned by a number of reports of anti-Semitism in Venezuela in recent months. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which state the Government recognise as the administering power in Western Sahara.

Bill Rammell: Morocco exercises 'de facto' administrative control over part of the territory, however the UK regards the status of the territory as undetermined pending a negotiated outcome providing for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. The UK continues to support UN-led efforts currently underway to resolve the ongoing dispute.

Banks: Pensions

Gordon Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements his Department put in place to examine the pension arrangements in place for directors of banks for which public funding has been provided at the time of provision of that funding.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 5 March 2009
	As part of its investment, the Government have agreed a range of conditions with banks accessing the recapitalisation scheme, including restrictions on bonuses for senior executives—both for 2008 when the Government expect no cash bonuses to be paid to board members, and for remuneration policy going forward, where incentive schemes will be reviewed and linked to long-term value creation, taking account of risk, and restricting the potential for "rewards for failure".
	UKFI has been set up to manage the Treasury's shareholdings in recapitalised banks. UKFI has a role in scrutinising the non-lending recapitalisation conditions, including on remuneration policy, to protect the interest of the taxpayer as a shareholder.
	Additionally, banks participating in the Government's Asset Protection Scheme (APS) will have to develop a sustainable long-term remuneration policy. This means reviewing policies and implementing new policies consistent with the FSA's code of remuneration practice announced on 26 February.
	Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley have their own conditions on remuneration—these are set out in their respective Shareholder Relationship Framework documents.

Banks: Regulation

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Leeds, East of 9 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1618-19W, on banks: finance, if he will publish on his Department's website a copy of each of the placing and open offer agreements referred to in the answer.

Ian Pearson: The placing and open offer agreements for the recapitalisation of RBS, HBOS and Lloyds, which were deposited in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament on 18 November 2008, and were also posted on the Treasury's website on 20 February 2009.

Departmental Internet

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 28 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 584-85W, on the departmental internet, how many hits each of the websites maintained by his Department received in each of the last 12 months.

Angela Eagle: Statistics that we hold for each website maintained by the Department, in each of the last 12 months are as follows:
	
		
			  Unique visitors 
			   2008 
			   Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep 
			 www.hm-treasury.gov.uk 266,462 236,654 222,414 212,796 164,583 126,319 80,548 
			 www.isb.gov.uk 5,136 5,395 6,249 6,359 4,574 3,796 2,092 
			 www.ges.gov.uk 5,505 5,380 4,805 4,786 4,183 3,829 6,182 
			 www.gsr.gov.uk 17,065 25,158 27,236 23,082 20,547 17,065 12,119 
			 www.euro.gov.uk — — — — — — — 
			 www.financialinclusion-taskforce.org.uk — — — — — — — 
			 www.financial-reporting.gov.uk — — — — — — — 
			 http://thegfp.treasury.gov.uk — — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			   Oct  Nov  Dec  Jan  Feb  Total 
			 www.hm-treasury.gov.uk 465,585 245,986 142,120 173,607 152,542 2,489,616 
			 www.isb.gov.uk 4,235 4,506 3,413 3,800 3,973 53,528 
			 www.ges.gov.uk 9,060 6,208 4,860 7,854 7,801 64,948 
			 www.gsr.gov.uk 9,583 9,269 8,324 9,379 8,851 187,678 
			 www.euro.gov.uk 17,541 16,301 17,032 20,908 15,472 (1)— 
			 www.financialinclusion-taskforce.org.uk 985 353 1,022 1,173 1,156 (1)— 
			 www.financial-reporting.gov.uk 4,463 4,634 3,439 3,709 2,879 (1)— 
			 http://thegfp.treasury.gov.uk — — — — — (2)21,677 
			 (1). Statistics available only from October 2008.  (2) Monthly breakdowns unavailable.

Departmental Translation Services

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many language translators are employed in each of his Department's executive agencies; and what the cost of translating services provided by such people was in the latest period for which information is available.

Jonathan R Shaw: The DWP provides a range of language translation services for customers across Great Britain (as Northern Ireland is excluded), namely:
	1. Face to face
	2. Telephone.
	3. Translating by a range of services which includes the translation of departmental information leaflets and other documents that are provided to customers in a range of ethnic languages, audio and Braille, as well as all publications for Welsh speaking customers living in Wales.
	4. We are also able to offer an ad hoc service to convert documents into easy read format.
	DWP has 154 staff with foreign language speaking skills which are used alongside their normal duties and for which they receive an annual allowance of £730 per annum. There are also 557 staff with foreign language speaking skills who provide additional cover and receive an annual allowance of £310 per annum. These services are used on an ad hoc basis and their overall cost is not maintained on a central basis.
	The Department routinely offers a bilingual service to customers living in Wales, generally delivered by members of staff, without any allowances being paid to them
	NDPB's have access to our frameworks but we do not hold centrally any data relating to their specific spend, if any, via these services. To ascertain this would incur disproportionate cost.
	The information requested is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Type of service  Number of suppliers  2007-08 spend( 1)   (£ million) 
			 Face to face translation 5 1.7 
			 Telephone interpreting 1 1.8 
			 Ethnic translation (documents) 6 0.135 
			 Welsh language 2 0.066 
			 Braille 3 0.045 
			 Audio formats 3 0.036 
			 Easy read documents 1 (2)— 
			 (1) 2007-08 is the last full financial year of recorded data that we can provide. (2) Not available as included in creative design costs.

Natural Gas: Engineers

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 26 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1942W, on natural gas: engineers, what performance indicator the Health and Safety Executive has set for Capita's performance in promoting awareness of the new gas safety council; and when the Executive plans to publish its assessment of progress against this objective.

Jonathan R Shaw: Capita has a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to achieve at least 40 per cent. unprompted brand recognition of the New Gas Safe Register™ among gas consumers by the end of October 2009, rising to 60 per cent. by the end of October 2010 and 75 per cent. by the end of October 2011. A further KPI requires annual increases over the first five years of the contract in gas consumer awareness of gas safety risks and the need to use only a Gas Safe registered engineer for gas work. The KPIs will be measured through consumer surveys with the results published as soon as possible.

Pupil Referral Units

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what information his Department holds on pupil referral units.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department currently collects data on:
	the number of pupil referral units in England;
	the overall number of pupils in pupil referral units and by:
	age
	gender
	ethnicity
	special educational needs (including those with a statement of special educational needs)
	those entitled to free school meals and the number of those taking up the option of free school meals
	the number who are solely registered in pupil referral units and the number who are dual registered in a pupil referral unit and a school or other provider, such as a college of further education;
	the number of teachers in pupil referral units and, of those, how many are full-time and how many are part-time;
	the number of support staff in pupil referral units, including teaching assistants, administrative staff and technicians;
	the amount of contact time for pupils by pupil age.
	We also hold some data on the attainment of pupils in pupil referral units but this is not collected by the Department. Attainment data for pupils in pupil referral units is collected by local authorities for key stage 1 pupils, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority for key stage 2 and key stage 3 pupils, and by the exam boards for key stage 4 and key stage 5 pupils.
	We announced in the alternative provision White Paper, "Back on Track", published in May 2008, that we intend to publish data later this year on the attainment of pupils in pupil referral units. We have also collected data on attendance at pupil referral units in January this year and will publish it in May.
	Via the consistent financial reporting (CFR) data collection, the Department collects details of the income, expenditure and balances (surpluses/deficits) that have occurred during the previous financial year for all local authority maintained schools in England. CFR is a statutory return for all authority maintained schools with delegated budgets. However, for pupil referral units a CFR return is optional, and during the 2007-08 collection we received data from 55 PRUs.
	Via local authorities' budget statements, my Department collect details of local authorities planned expenditure on the provision of education at pupil referral units. Via this data collection, local authorities also provide details of the devolved school standards grant (including personalisation) allocated to PRUs.
	Local authorities are required to publish this information locally and consequently every local authority will have their own budget statement published on their own website. In addition, the DCSF publish this data via the Section 52 website at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/localauthorities/section52/subPage. cfm?action=section52.default&ID=58

Pupils: Obesity

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children have been diagnosed as medically unfit to attend school on the grounds of obesity or obesity-related disorders in the last three years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Data on the number of children diagnosed unfit to attend school on the grounds of obesity or obesity-related disorders is not available.

Special Educational Needs: Children in Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children in care attended maintained special educational needs schools in each year since 1997.

Beverley Hughes: Information on children in care is usually sourced from the Looked After Children database but this cannot be used to answer this question as it does not identify the school each child attends. However, data on pupils in care is also collected via the school census and the available information is shown in the table. Pupil in care data is not available prior to 2004.
	This census shows that there were 34,390 pupils aged five to 19 attending primary, secondary and special schools classed as being in care as at January 2008. Data published by the Department as SFR 23/2008: Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2008, shows 47,600 children aged between five and 19 as being looked after as at 31 March 2008. However the school census does not cover all looked after children; information is not collected for pupils in alternative provision, including pupil referral units, FE colleges, voluntary provision and those not in education or training. These differences in coverage will explain the different counts to an extent, but it is possible that the school census undercounts the number of looked after children in primary, secondary and special schools.
	
		
			  Maintained Special Schools( 1) : Number of pupils in  care2 — Position  in January each year 2004 to 2008, England 
			   Number 
			 2004 4,170 
			 2005 3,900 
			 2006 4,040 
			 2007 4,440 
			 2008 4,530 
			 (1) Excludes general hospital schools. (2) Includes dually registered pupils and boarding pupils.  Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source:  School Census

Special Educational Needs: Private Sector

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 2116-7W, on special educational needs: private sector, how many of the schools referred to in each year were located in each local authority area.

Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

Teachers: Pay

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1711W, on teachers' pay, if he will  (a) publish the findings of the Local Government Employers' survey of local authorities on the number of teachers who have lost pay as a result of the ending of safeguarding for management allowances; and  (b) estimate the amount removed from the overall teachers' pay bill as a result of the ending of the safeguarding.

Jim Knight: We do not hold such results centrally as the Local Government Employers contacted a sample of local authorities to estimate the number of teachers who would be affected by the ending of safeguarding payments for management allowances. Our previous reply reported that the sample survey indicated that between 2 per cent. and 4 per cent. of teachers may have been affected by the ending of the safeguarding period.
	We do not collect data on the amount that will be removed from the overall teachers' pay bill as a result of the ending of this safeguarding. Schools have been planning for this since the withdrawal of management allowances on 31 December 2005 and the subsequent introduction of Teaching and Learning Responsibility payments with the requirement to review the school's staffing structure. It is for schools to determine how best to utilise any savings made as a result of the expiry of the safeguarding period. Local authorities have already set indicative school budgets for 2009-10 and 2010-11 in addition to budgets for 2008-09.

Bye Laws

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to publish the Government's formal response to the consultation in respect of the enforcement of local government bylaws.

John Healey: The Department intends to publish the Government's response to the consultation on the making and enforcement of byelaws by the end of March.

Council Housing: Rents

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 6 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 71-2WS, on local authority rents, what requirements local authorities must meet to be eligible for additional funding from central Government.

Iain Wright: Communities and Local Government wrote to local authorities on 11 March with further information following my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning's announcement of 6 March that we would be halving the 2009-10 national average guideline rent increase from 6.2 per cent. to 3.1 per cent. in recognition of the current difficult economic conditions. We are prepared to change the subsidy position of those authorities who reduce their actual average increase in rents in 2009-10 in line with the new national average.
	Details of the arrangements are set out in our letter, and I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.

Departmental Absenteeism

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff of her Department were recorded absent for non-medical reasons on  (a) 2 February 2009 and  (b) 3 February 2009; what estimate she has made of the (i) cost to her Department and (ii) number of working hours lost due to such absence; and what guidance her Department issued to staff in respect of absence on these days.

Sadiq Khan: The Department does not record non-medical absences centrally and compilation of this information from local sources (i.e. individual business units) would incur a disproportionate cost. Staff were told via the emergency incident line and internet to contact their line manager to discuss working from home if they could not get safely to and from the office.

Eco-Towns

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 29 January 2009,  Official Report, column 769W, on eco-towns, if she will place in the Library a copy of the Cragg Ross Dawson research on local attitudes to the proposals for eco-towns.

Margaret Beckett: I am placing a copy of the Cragg Ross Dawson research in the House Library. This was qualitative research undertaken last July to explore national and local attitudes to the proposals for eco-towns, and to help inform our communications strategy at that time.

Homelessness: Crosby

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1284-85W, on homelessness, what definition of the term vulnerable households she uses; and what estimate she has made of the number of vulnerable households in Crosby constituency which will receive assistance under the Mortgage Reserve Scheme.

Margaret Beckett: The Government Mortgage Rescue aims to support up to 6,000 'vulnerable' households in England at risk of repossession over the next two years. Under the scheme's criteria, a 'vulnerable' household is termed as one that falls within one of three priority need categories and who would be owed a duty to secure accommodation under the homelessness legislation (section 189(1)(a)-(c) of the Housing Act 1996) if they became homeless through no fault of their own.
	The three priority need categories are that the home owner must be:
	(1) a person with whom dependent children reside or might reasonably be expected to reside;
	(2) a pregnant woman or a person with whom she resides or might reasonably be expected to reside; or
	(3) a person who is vulnerable as a result of old age, mental illness or handicap or physical disability or other special reason, or with whom such a person resides or might reasonably be expected to reside.
	The £200 million Government Mortgage Rescue Scheme has been operational across the country since 1 January 2009. The Government have not made any estimate of the number of households it expects to benefit from the scheme by individual parliamentary constituency. The scheme is demand-led, with the number of vulnerable households benefiting from the scheme dependant on the number of eligible households approaching their local authority for assistance.

Homelessness: Sefton

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1284-5W, on homelessness, how much of the proposed £200 million spending to prevent homelessness is to be allocated to Sefton; and on what projects the funding will be used.

Iain Wright: Sefton will receive £62,000 a year homelessness grant (revenue); a total of £186,000 over the period 2008-11. This money is not ring-fenced therefore it is for local authorities to decide how to use their homelessness grant to effectively deliver their strategies.
	Sefton borough council were also awarded £1,080,000 capital funding from the Places of Change programme in March 2008 towards the refurbishment of the BOSCO Society hostel in Bootle.
	The project provides 13 hostel bed spaces for single homeless men, many of whom have an offender background, suffer from the effects of years of rough sleeping, substance misuse and poor mental health. The building in which the service is currently based is dilapidated and not fit for purpose. The Places of Change programme grant will enable "BOSCO" to transform a poor physical environment into an attractive, welcoming living space, and also to improve established training facilities and opportunities for social enterprise for residents.

Local Government Finance: Sefton

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1298-1300W, how much funding Sefton Council has received for  (a) capital investment in housing,  (b) major repairs allowance and  (c) disabled facilities grants in each year since 1995.

Iain Wright: Allocations to Sefton council of capital funding for housing purposes over the period 1995-96 to 2009-10 exceeds £123 million.
	The following table shows the funding Sefton have received for capital investment in housing, major repairs allowance and disabled facilities grants in each year.
	
		
			  Allocations 
			  £000 
			   (a) Housing capital allocations (excluding MRA and DFG)  (b )Major repairs allowance (MRA)  (c) Disabled facilities grant (DFG)  (a, b, c) Total 
			 1995-96 5,610 — — 5,610 
			 1996-97 5,192 — — 5,192 
			 1997-98 4,244 — 264 4,508 
			 1998-99 5,928 — 291 6,219 
			 1999-2000 5,617 — 291 5,908 
			 2000-01 9,011 — 323 9,334 
			 2001-02 4,480 7,456 380 12,316 
			 2002-03 5,148 7,370 713 13,231 
			 2003-04 4,852 7,165 720 12,737 
			 2004-05 5,533 7,274 791 13,598 
			 2005-06 5,533 7,253 791 13,577 
			 2006-07 6,132 — 918 7,050 
			 2007-08 6,033 — 964 6,997 
			 2008-09 4,985 — 964 5,949 
			 2009-10 — — 1,157 1,157 
			 123,383 
		
	
	Payments of major repairs allowance ceased in 2006, following the transfer of housing stock to a new registered social landlord.

Sleeping Rough: Sefton

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1284-85W, on homelessness, how many rough sleepers there were in Sefton in each year since 2001. [R]

Iain Wright: Annual rough sleeping figures are based on local authority street counts and estimates where a street count did not take place.
	
		
			   Number of rough sleepers in Sefton 
			 2001 5 
			 2002 2 
			 2003 0 
			 2004 0 
			 2005 1 
			 2006 1 
			 2007 0 
			 2008 0

Travelling People: Caravan Sites

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 15 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 947-48W, on Travelling people: caravan sites, what the level and structure of the appropriate fee that should be charged for rubbish collections is; and what guidance her Department issues to local authorities in the event of Travellers refusing to pay.

Iain Wright: Section 45(4) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 provides the appropriate power to enable local authorities to seek payment of a reasonable charge for the collection of waste from an unauthorised site. The issue of whether a fee should be charged for the collection of such waste, and the level of that fee, is a matter for the relevant local authority to consider in the light of the circumstances that apply in each individual case. Local authorities have strong powers under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, to deal with any incidences of fly-tipping that might arise if the council cannot come to an agreement with the occupiers of the site about the level of fee.

Allergies

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what tertiary allergy services are being provided in each strategic health authority in England; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The Department does not routinely collect this data.
	In 2007, the Department published a review of allergy services, which identified that there were approximately 94 allergy clinics in England, of which six were services led by full-time specialist allergists. Three of these clinics were in London Strategic Health Authority and one each in East of England Strategic Health Authority; South Central Strategic Health Authority and one in East Midlands Strategic Health Authority.
	The North West Strategic Health Authority has been appointed as the lead for allergy. They are developing a network, of provision centred around the major population centres of the region through building additional capacity and capability in existing providers of tertiary allergy services.
	This work has started with steps to appoint a full time (adult) consultant allergist. Subject to agreement of North West primary care trusts, this will be followed in 2009-10 by the recruitment of (paediatric) consultant allergist. Plans then exist for the development of additional capacity and capability in other centres across the region and also in primary care.
	The learning from this pilot site will form the basis of a model to be shared with other regions of England to encourage the development of locally appropriate provision in those areas.

Dementia

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2009,  Official Report, column 111W, on dementia, who the members of the new National Dementia Strategy Programme Board are; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The terms of reference and membership of the new National Dementia Strategy Implementation Programme Board have yet to be finalised. They will be considered at the final meeting of the old Dementia Strategy Programme Board, now to be held on 31 March. They will then be determined by Ministers before the information is placed on the dementia page of the Department's website.

Departmental Surveys

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 137-38W, on departmental surveys, if he will place in the Library a copy of the results of the most recent staff survey undertaken by his Department.

Ben Bradshaw: A copy of the document requested has been placed in the Library. This and the results of other staff surveys in the Department are now available and will, in future, be available on the staff survey page of the general civil service website.

Mental Health Services

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1768W, on mental health services, 
	(1)  which professions deliver cognitive behavioural therapy;
	(2)  how his Department defines the term state of the art training in relation to cognitive behavioural therapy;
	(3)  what mechanisms are in place to assess the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy.

Phil Hope: Clinical psychologists, counselling psychologists, nurse therapists, primary care counsellors and other qualified mental health professionals are eligible to train in delivering cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for depression and anxiety disorders, high intensity therapy, as part of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. Those without a core professional background are required to complete a knowledge, skills and attitudes portfolio to be eligible for training.
	All those currently delivering CBT are required to be accredited by the BABCP (British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies), the United Kingdom's leading organisation for CBT.
	People from a wide range of backgrounds with a special interest in therapeutic approaches are eligible to train in delivering low intensity interventions.
	IAPT programme training courses can be described as "state of the art" courses principally because they are based on the CBT competency framework, which was a piece of empirical science.
	In addition, these training courses focus on clinical skills development for low and high intensity therapists; they have national curricula developed through expert and lay consultation; they are supported by clear national learning materials, and techniques developed in clinical trials are taught by experts in the relevant therapeutic discipline.
	All the educational institutions delivering these courses around the country are subject to an accreditation regime that provides quality assurance.
	The IAPT programme has one principal aim—to help primary care trusts (PCTs) implement the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for people suffering from depression and/or anxiety disorders.
	CBT is an evidence-based intervention and is recommended by NICE for the treatment of depression and/or anxiety disorders. However, all IAPT services are required to collect routine clinical outcome at every session so that clinical teams can evaluate the effectiveness of the service and so patients can see and discuss their progress with their therapist. The data also enable PCTs and practice based commissioners to commission psychological therapy services for the outcomes they are expected to achieve.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his announcement of 8 March 2009 on mental health and unemployment, from which budget the £13 million he has allocated will be taken; by what mechanism it will be allocated to local NHS services; and how it will be broken down between the different measures he has announced.

Phil Hope: This additional funding is for a package of measures to help the national health service support people with emotional distress or common mental health problems in the economic downturn. It builds on the significant investment we are already making, annual funding rising to £173 million by 2010-11, to train a new workforce and invest in high quality psychological therapy services.
	The mechanism to allocate the extra £13 million to the local NHS is yet to be determined, although it will be distributed in the 2009-10 financial year. Departmental officials are working closely with strategic health authorities to ensure the money is used to address the needs of the primary care trusts appropriately.

NHS: Buildings

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what gross internal floor area each NHS organisation held which was attributable to buildings with temporary planning consent in each of the last five years; and what the ERIC code of each organisation is.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department has collected annual data from national health service trusts through the Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC) relating to:
	"The gross internal floor area that is attributable to buildings with temporary planning consent, as defined in the Planning Regulations (normally with up to two years planning consent). Exclude site cabins used by private contractors but include all relevant buildings that are either owned by the NHS Trust or defined within the terms of a lease, service level agreement, or tenancy agreement. Excludes leased out areas."
	The data for 2007-08 has been placed in the Library.
	The information provided has been supplied by the NHS and had not been amended centrally. The accuracy and completeness of the information is the responsibility of the provider organisation. Provision of this data was voluntary for all NHS trusts including foundation trusts.
	A list of the organisations codes used in ERIC has also been placed in the Library.

Pharmacy: Hemel Hempstead

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many licensed pharmacies there were in Hemel Hempstead in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: This information is not held in the format requested. However, data is held for the number of community pharmacies in contract with their primary care trust (PCT) at 31 March each year. This data was first published in 2004-05, and is held by PCT area only.
	Since 2006, West Hertfordshire PCT has covered Hemel Hempstead constituency. Prior to 2006, West Hertfordshire PCT was made up of Dacorum PCT, Hertsmere PCT, St. Albans and Harpenden PCT and Watford and Three Rivers PCT.
	The number of community pharmacies in contract with Hemel Hempstead PCT at 31 March each year for 2006-08, and with Dacorum PCT, Hertsmere PCT, St. Albans and Harpenden PCT and Watford and Three Rivers PCT for 2004-06 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of community pharmacies in contract with PCT at 31 March 
			  PCT  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Dacorum PCT 27 27 — — 
			 Hertsmere PCT 23 23 — — 
			 St. Albans and Harpenden PCT 26 27 — — 
			 Watford and Three Rivers PCT 42 41 — — 
			 West Hertfordshire PCT — — 123 123 
			  Notes: 1. Each community pharmacy has an arrangement with a PCT to dispense national health service prescriptions. The arrangement specifies both the premises and the named contractor. 2. Community pharmacies can dispense the full range of drugs and appliances as listed in the monthly Drug Tariff published by the NHS Prescription Services (previously known as the Prescription Pricing Division) of the NHS Business Services Authority.

Swimming

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what swimming organisations will be invited to be members of the Physical Activity Alliance as part of the Change for Life initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The Department has pledged to support the creation of a Physical Activity Alliance and is keen to encourage a membership that spans the physical activity sector, however, it is not the Department's role to be prescriptive as to its membership.
	The Physical Activity Alliance will shortly be consulting on how it can best fulfil the role set out in the Physical Activity Plan. We would expect any organisation whose aims are compatible with those of the Alliance and willing to abide by its terms of membership to become eligible to join the organisation. This would extend to any swimming organisation.

Apprentices

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what progress the Government has made towards its targets for apprenticeships.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 12 March 2009
	This Government have rescued and expanded the apprenticeship programme. We will meet our target of 130,000 completions by 2010/11. Completions have more than trebled since 2001/02, from 39,000 to 113,000 in 2007/08. This means that over the 10-year period from 2001/02, to the end of the CSR period in 2010/11, around 900,000 young people and adults will have successfully completed their apprenticeship. Completion rates also reached an all-time high in 2007/08 of 64 per cent., compared to 48 per cent. in 2005/06. By 2020 we aim to deliver over 250,000 apprenticeship starts and 190,000 successful completions in order to meet the Leitch ambition for apprenticeships in England. We are on track to meet this ambition with a record 225,000 apprenticeship starts in 2007/08.

Departmental Bank Services

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills with which banks his Department has or has had contracts for the provision of financial advice, for the financial year 2008-09.

Si�n Simon: In the 2008-09 financial year, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) has held a contract with Deutsche Bank for financial advice in respect of the Student Loan Sales Programme.

Departmental Public Consultation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what payments for  (a) polling and  (b) other services his Department has made to (i) Deborah Mattinson and (ii) Opinion Leader Research Limited since 31 December 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) has not made any direct payments to either Deborah Mattinson or Opinion Leader Research (OLR) since its inception in June 2007. However, there has been one payment through Central Office of Information (COI) to OLR, on behalf of DIUS. This payment was for OLR to organise two citizens' juries, which took place on 10 and 11 December 2007 in London and Hull. This was a joint project between the Department for Communities and Local Government, and DIUS.
	The final cost, shared between the two Departments, was 59,615. DIUS made a contribution of 29,807 to this amount, these figures are exclusive of value added tax (VAT).

Departmental Surveys

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1734W, on departmental surveys, if he will place in the Library a copy of the results of the most recent staff survey undertaken by his Department.

Si�n Simon: A copy of the results of the Department's first annual all staff survey which was undertaken in October 2008 has been placed in the House Libraries.

Education: Offenders

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much funding the Offender Learning and Skills Service has provided for  (a) basic literacy,  (b) basic numeracy and  (c) other courses for offenders in each year for which figures are available; and how much it expects to spend in each of the next three years.

Si�n Simon: The Offender Learning and Skills Service was introduced across England from the start of the 2006/07 academic year.
	In 2006/07 the Learning and Skills Council funding through the Offender Learning and Skills Service was:
	
		
			   000 
			 Literacy 22,707 
			 Numeracy 18,955 
			 Other courses 64,738 
			   
			 Total 106,400 
		
	
	The equivalent information is not yet available for the 2007/08 academic year.
	The Learning and Skills Council is working with National Offender Management Service's Directors of Offender Management in the regions to determine the learning provision to be jointly commissioned in the 2009/10 academic year.

Education: Offenders

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much money was spent by the Offender Learning and Skills Service on training for offenders in each year for which figures are available, broken down by type of course funded.

Si�n Simon: In the 2006/07 academic year, the first full year in which the Offender Learning and Skills Service operated across the whole of England, the Learning and Skills Council invested a total of 106.4 million which funded 240,045 enrolments. The investment by skills area can be broken down as in the following table:
	
		
			  000 
			  Total 
			 Health, public services and care 5,107 
			 Science and mathematics 686 
			 Agriculture, horticulture and animal care 846 
			 Engineering and manufacturing technologies 1,204 
			 Construction, planning and the built environment 6,979 
			 Information and communication technology 15,553 
			 Retail and commercial enterprise 4,860 
			 Leisure, travel and tourism 305 
			 Arts, media and publishing 5,745 
			 History, philosophy and theology 458 
			 Social sciences 294 
			 Languages, literature and culture 917 
			 Education and training 897 
			 Preparation for life and work 59,320 
			 Business, administration and law 2,340 
			 Not recorded 891 
		
	
	Data for the 2007/08 academic year will be available shortly.

Education: Offenders

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many learner places were funded by the Offender Learning and Skills Service in each year for which figures are available, broken down by category of learner.

Si�n Simon: The Offender Learning and Skills Service was introduced across England from the start of the 2006/07 academic year.
	
		
			  Learning enrolments  2006/07  2007/08 
			 Offenders held in youth detention accommodation. 41,056 46,397 
			 Offenders held in adult detention accommodation. 198,989 253,542 
		
	
	The Learning and Skills Council and its providers determine the number of places available through learner enrolments.

English Language: Education

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 55-56W, on English language: education, which private providers received funding to deliver courses on English for speakers of other languages in 2008-09; on what basis those providers were chosen; how the courses were delivered; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) provides funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses to private providers as part of their overall allocation of funding for adult learning. Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data show that around 50 private providers received funding to deliver ESOL courses in 2008-09. It is not possible to list individual providers and these figures do not include Train to Gain as these data are not available at the present time.
	Private providers funded by the LSC to deliver ESOL courses are selected by the same process as other providers. The process for choosing providers begins with the LSC's annual Statement of Priorities document which sets out the key policy and investment priorities for the FE sector. Each LSC region produces a Regional Commissioning Statement which sets out the totality of provision to be secured in each region for the next academic year and which sets national priorities in a regional context. Private providers receiving LSC funding to deliver ESOL will be liable to meet the same quality criteria as FE colleges.
	On the basis of the priorities and investment set out in these documents, the LSC then enters a commissioning process with its current provider base (which includes private providers) to secure provision for the next academic year.
	In some regions, where there has been a strategic need to meet gaps in provision or to improve quality, ESOL provision has been tendered. The LSC commissions providers in light of their performance, the quality of their delivery, their capacity and capability, including their financial health. Allocations and contracts are then agreed with providers based on a planning assumption of the volumes the provider will deliver. Contracts are monitored regularly and robustly for all provision and increases or decreases applied to delivery volumes where appropriate.
	ESOL courses are delivered using a variety of methods by accredited ESOL teachers. ESOL Skills for Life qualifications have been designed to meet the needs of the broad range of learners who want to live and work in this country and if, appropriate, intend to become citizens of the UK and are based on the National Standards for Adult Literacy. At levels 1 and 2, the ESOL Skills for Life assess reading through the same national tests as are used for Key Skills Communication qualifications and the level 1 and 2 Certificate in Adult Literacy.

Further Education: Finance

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills with reference to the written ministerial statement of 4 March 2009,  Official Report, column 55WS, on capital investment (further education colleges), which 79 colleges have been given the first stage of approval in principle by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC); and which 65 colleges have submitted bids to the LSC for approval in principle.

Si�n Simon: Capital funding for further education colleges is administrated by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). As the information requested pertains to decisions and records held by the Council, I have asked Mark Haysom, the LSC Chief Executive, to write to my hon. Friend with the further information requested. A copy of his letter will be placed in the House Libraries.

Higher Education: Admissions

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what proportion of young people from each local authority began an undergraduate course at a higher education institution in  (a) 1997-98 and  (b) 2007-08.

David Lammy: The number of young undergraduate entrants from each local authority is shown in the accompanying table.
	It is not possible to calculate what proportion of young people from each local authority began an undergraduate course at a UK higher education institution in 2007/08. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) published Young participation in higher education in January 2005, which is available from the HEFCE website at:
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/.
	The HEFCE report shows participation rates for young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19 disaggregated by local education authority (LEA) for the years 1997 to 2000.
	At national level, the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) covers English-domiciled 17 to 30-year-old first-time entrants to higher education courses, at UK higher education institutions and English, Scottish and Welsh further education colleges, who remain on their course for at least six months. The latest available figure is 39.8 per cent. in 2006/07. For young people (aged 17-20), the figure is 31.6 per cent.
	
		
			  Young( 1)  undergraduate entrants( 2)  by local authority( 3)  UK higher education institutions( 4)  academic years 1997/98 to 2007/08 
			  Local authority  1997/98  2007/08 
			 City of London 15 20 
			 Camden 655 960 
			 Greenwich 630 1,130 
			 Hackney 520 1,075 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 475 750 
			 Islington 465 855 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 610 765 
			 Lambeth 725 1,325 
			 Lewisham 715 1,385 
			 Southwark 635 1,335 
			 Tower Hamlets 465 1,045 
			 Wandsworth 815 1,255 
			 Westminster 620 885 
			 Barking and Dagenham 285 715 
			 Barnet 1,850 2,575 
			 Bexley 695 1,145 
			 Brent 1,405 2,065 
			 Bromley 1,295 1,750 
			 Croydon 1,350 2,175 
			 Ealing 1,500 2,165 
			 Enfield 1,265 1,895 
			 Haringey 790 1,435 
			 Harrow 1,475 2,165 
			 Havering 640 1,020 
			 Hillingdon 905 1,475 
			 Hounslow 1,000 1,405 
			 Kingston upon Thames 590 1,045 
			 Merton 695 1,100 
			 Newham 890 1,880 
			 Redbridge 1,245 2,050 
			 Richmond upon Thames 870 1,250 
			 Sutton 635 1,020 
			 Waltham Forest 825 1,400 
			 Birmingham 3,820 5,060 
			 Coventry 1,135 1,330 
			 Dudley 1,040 1,280 
			 Sandwell 840 1,170 
			 Solihull 955 1,295 
			 Walsall 835 1,095 
			 Wolverhampton 1,040 1,290 
			 Knowsley 265 610 
			 Liverpool 960 1,860 
			 St. Helens 615 675 
			 Sefton 1,215 1,480 
			 Wirral 1,250 1,730 
			 Bolton 1,145 1,205 
			 Bury 730 1,010 
			 Manchester 1,040 1,715 
			 Oldham 705 1,025 
			 Rochdale 760 950 
			 Salford 505 690 
			 Stockport 1,180 1,480 
			 Tameside 635 785 
			 Trafford 1,030 1,385 
			 Wigan 875 1,040 
			 Barnsley 450 690 
			 Doncaster 745 950 
			 Rotherham 725 920 
			 Sheffield 1,410 2,075 
			 Bradford 1,625 2,140 
			 Calderdale 685 865 
			 Kirklees 1,650 1,920 
			 Leeds 2,170 2,935 
			 Wakefield 875 1,090 
			 Gateshead 610 755 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 805 1,130 
			 North Tyneside 705 835 
			 South Tyneside 485 530 
			 Sunderland 820 1,065 
			 Isles Of Scilly 10 15 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 675 910 
			 Bristol, City of 1,155 1,285 
			 North Somerset 880 990 
			 South Gloucestershire 945 1,110 
			 Hartlepool 250 395 
			 Middlesbrough 485 765 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 555 700 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 765 1,005 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of 470 690 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 1,385 1,530 
			 North East Lincolnshire 450 485 
			 North Lincolnshire 580 635 
			 North Yorkshire 2,465 3,030 
			 York 630 780 
			 Bedfordshire 1,640 2,075 
			 Luton 700 1,040 
			 Buckinghamshire 2,720 3,290 
			 Milton Keynes 755 1,075 
			 Derbyshire 2,630 3,100 
			 Derby 840 985 
			 Dorset 1,445 1,865 
			 Poole 465 630 
			 Bournemouth 520 625 
			 Durham 1,610 1,780 
			 Darlington 305 445 
			 East Sussex 1,785 2,165 
			 Brighton and Hove 655 1,005 
			 Hampshire 5,330 6,255 
			 Portsmouth 410 605 
			 Southampton 575 750 
			 Leicestershire 2,750 3,145 
			 Leicester 1,155 1,660 
			 Rutland 205 230 
			 Staffordshire 3,130 3,905 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 555 785 
			 Wiltshire 1,765 2,130 
			 Swindon 410 640 
			 Bracknell Forest 375 505 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 690 805 
			 West Berkshire 645 730 
			 Reading 415 565 
			 Slough 435 700 
			 Wokingham 815 1,075 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,205 2,515 
			 Peterborough 520 675 
			 Cheshire 3,060 3,740 
			 Halton 310 485 
			 Warrington 660 995 
			 Devon 2,495 3,215 
			 Plymouth 705 975 
			 Torbay 385 460 
			 Essex 4,550 6,245 
			 Southend-on-Sea 545 725 
			 Thurrock 290 505 
			 Herefordshire 640 855 
			 Worcestershire 2,330 2,780 
			 Kent 5,035 6,840 
			 Medway 710 1,150 
			 Lancashire 4,600 4,745 
			 Blackburn and Darwen 480 545 
			 Blackpool 325 320 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,550 3,155 
			 Nottingham 545 850 
			 Shropshire 1,305 1,455 
			 Telford and Wrekin 530 645 
			 Cornwall 1,965 2,280 
			 Cumbria 1,710 2,040 
			 Gloucestershire 2,505 2,820 
			 Hertfordshire 4,665 6,135 
			 Isle of Wight 490 465 
			 Lincolnshire 2,265 2,820 
			 Norfolk 2,455 3,020 
			 Northamptonshire 2,335 3,065 
			 Northumberland 1,355 1,305 
			 Oxfordshire 2,625 3,205 
			 Somerset 1,980 2,410 
			 Suffolk 2,150 3,240 
			 Surrey 5,170 6,425 
			 Warwickshire 2,265 2,580 
			 West Sussex 3,075 3,350 
			 Total England 183,110 240,480 
			
			 Isle of Anglesey 270 370 
			 Gwynedd 465 645 
			 Conwy 445 690 
			 Denbighshire 355 460 
			 Flintshire 535 650 
			 Wrexham 485 460 
			 Powys 565 730 
			 Ceredigion 330 380 
			 Pembrokeshire 635 620 
			 Carmarthenshire 860 925 
			 City and County of Swansea 1,045 1,135 
			 Neath Port Talbot 545 640 
			 Bridgend 535 740 
			 The Vale of Glamorgan 690 770 
			 Rhondda Cynon Taff 930 1,190 
			 Merthyr Tydfil 185 310 
			 Caerphilly 540 720 
			 Blaenau Gwent 180 230 
			 Torfaen 375 365 
			 Monmouthshire 500 565 
			 Newport 500 695 
			 Cardiff 1,195 1,735 
			 Total Wales 12,155 15,015 
			 Total England and Wales 195,265 255,500 
			
			 Belfast 810 1,340 
			 Western 1,075 2,195 
			 North Eastern 1,420 2,540 
			 South Eastern 1,575 2,390 
			 Southern 1,305 2,505 
			 Total Northern Ireland 6,185 10,970 
			
			 Channel Islands 55 970 
			
			 Aberdeen City 860 925 
			 Aberdeenshire 1,270 1,315 
			 Angus 515 490 
			 Argyll and Bute 425 425 
			 Scottish Borders 515 480 
			 Clackmannanshire 165 155 
			 West Dunbartonshire 295 320 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 615 595 
			 Dundee City 485 515 
			 East Ayrshire 415 505 
			 East Dunbartonshire 905 740 
			 East Lothian 320 435 
			 East Renfrewshire 685 765 
			 City of Edinburgh 1,795 2,070 
			 Falkirk 410 370 
			 Fife 1,290 1,210 
			 Glasgow City 1,480 1,985 
			 Highland 860 1,215 
			 Inverclyde 345 365 
			 Midlothian 290 260 
			 Moray 315 520 
			 North Ayrshire 525 480 
			 North Lanarkshire 1,025 1,260 
			 Orkney Islands 95 130 
			 Perth and Kinross 660 795 
			 Renfrewshire 805 785 
			 Shetland Islands 90 150 
			 South Ayrshire 595 535 
			 South Lanarkshire 1,200 1,515 
			 Stirling 435 355 
			 West Lothian 520 510 
			 Eilean Siar 130 180 
			 Total Scotland 20,345 22,355 
			
			 Total UK 221,845 289,795 
			 Missing 55,350 55,710 
			 (1) Young refers to entrants aged under 21. (2) Covers entrants to both full-time and part-time courses. (3) Local authority is derived from postcode. Those with missing or invalid postcodes will be coded as missing. (4) Figures exclude the Open University due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series.  Note: Figures are on a snapshot basis as 1 December. Figures have been rounded to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

Higher Education: Research

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much research funding his Department will provide to university science and technology departments in the next four years.

David Lammy: The Department provides research funding to universities through the Science and Research Budget and also, for English universities, through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
	The CSR07 allocations for the Science and Research Budget are: 3,554 million in 2008-09; 3,715 million in 2009-10; and 3,970 million in 2010-11. Most of this budget is allocated to the research councils which they use to fund research at universities and other research institutes.
	Additionally HEFCE provides QR research funding to English universities. The CSR07 allocations are: 1,444 million in 2008-09; 1,509 million in 2009-10; and 1,634 million in 2010-11. HEFCE also provides capital grants to universities to ensure the maintenance of world class research facilities. The allocations are: 291 million in 2008-09; 366 million in 2009-10; and 167 million in 2010-11. The 2010-11 figures are indicative and will be finalised in early 2010.

Opinion Leader Research

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much  (a) his Department and its predecessors and  (b) its agencies have paid Opinion Leader Research in each financial year since 2003-04.

Si�n Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was created as a result of machinery of Government changes in June 2007. Information on how much was paid to Opinion Leader Research (OLR) prior to this date is held by predecessor Departments.
	Neither DIUS nor its agencies have made any direct payments to Opinion Leader Research (OLR) since its inception in June 2007. However, there has been one payment through Central Office of Information (COI) to OLR, on behalf of DIUS. This payment was for OLR to organise two citizens' juries, which took place on 10 and 11 December 2007 in London and Hull. This was a joint project between the Department for Communities and Local Government, and DIUS.
	The final cost, shared between the two Departments, was 59,615. DIUS made a contribution of 29,807 to this amount, these figures are exclusive of value added tax (VAT).

Student Wastage: Higher Education

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what information his Department collects on  (a) university completion rates and  (b) reasons for non-completion of university courses.

David Lammy: The latest information from the performance indicators in higher education shows that the percentage of UK domiciled full-time first degree starters at English higher education institutions, who were expected to neither gain an award nor transfer to another institution, was 13.9 per cent. in the 2005/06 academic year. Figures for 2006/07 will be available in June.
	We are maintaining very good completion rates for first degrees with the latest statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showing that the UK ranks third of the 27 countries reporting data in this area. This has been achieved and maintained during a period when higher education has been opened up to both increased numbers and a greater diversity of students.
	The latest available information on reasons for leaving higher education courses is shown in the table.
	
		
			  UK domiciled full-time first degree enrolments who left their course English higher education institutions academic year 2007/08 
			  Reason for leaving  Enrolments 
			 Successful completion of course 202,405 
			 Academic failure/left in bad standing/not permitted to progress 9,310 
			 Transferred to another institution 2,210 
			 Health reasons 900 
			 Death 115 
			 Financial reasons 705 
			 Other personal reasons and dropped out 12,130 
			 Written off after lapse of time 2,175 
			 Exclusion 675 
			 Gone into employment 880 
			 Other 5,355 
			 Completion of courseresult unknown 390 
			 Unknown 1,150 
			 Total who left without having transferred 236,190 
			 Total who left in academic year 238,400 
			  Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). 
		
	
	The reason for leaving information on the HESA Student Record should be treated with some caution, because the 'Other personal reasons and dropped out' and 'Other' fields are used extensively. Institutions are not always able to record the precise reason for leaving. Furthermore, HESA allows only one reason for withdrawal to be recorded, however it is likely that many students leave for a combination of reasons.

Students: Loans

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 1337-38W, on students: loans, 
	(1)  how many applications for career development loans have been  (a) made and  (b) granted in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many career development loans have been awarded in each of the last five years; and how many have been awarded in 2008-09 to date.

Si�n Simon: Applications for Career Development Loans are made direct to the banks engaged in the programme; details of applications that are unsuccessful are not made available to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who administer the programme. The LSC collect information relating to loans that have been agreed by the banks.
	The numbers of loans made in the last five full financial years and this year in Great Britain are set out in the table. The LSC believe that the lower numbers in 2007-08 and during this year reflect the adoption of tighter lending strategies by banks, but not a reduction in demand from learners.
	New Opportunities: Fair Chances for the Future set out that Government would make funding available to increase the number of loans.
	The banks have agreed to work with the Department and the LSC to agree the terms of an expanded programme which would include the higher maximum loan value of 10,000. I expect the increase in opportunities that Professional and Career Development Loans will offer in 2009-10 and 2010-11 to be taken up in response to increased, targeted marketing and as people continue to need to re-skill in response to the impact of the economic downturn.
	
		
			  Career development loans made in Great Britain 
			   Number 
			 2003-04 17,331 
			 2004-05 15,273 
			 2005-06 17,840 
			 2006-07 12,197 
			 2007-08 9,145 
			 2008-09 to 9 March 2009 7,580

Union Learning Fund

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Chichester of 18 February 2008,  Official Report, column 396W, on the political levy, what funding his Department has provided to trades unions through the Union Learning Fund to promote awareness and understanding of trades union members' right to opt out of political funds.

Si�n Simon: The Union Learning Fund does not provide funding to trade unions to promote awareness of trade union members' right to opt out of political funds. Its primary objective is to help trade unions and their Union Learning Representatives drive up the demand for learning in the workplace.
	There are now over 20,500 trained Union Learning Representatives who have helped more than 600,000 workers into learning since the Union Learning Fund was introduced. Over 200,000 were helped last year alone, many from those hard to reach groups who employers and training providers find it so difficult to engage with, including over 34,000 workers with poor basic literacy and numeracy skills.
	With their real-life experience and credibility in the workplace, Union Learning Representatives inspire trust and foster ambition in others, giving them the confidence to seek new ways to improve their skills. They are making a big difference to the lives of working people right across the country, helping them to learn new skills and update existing ones and giving them a real stake in the future.
	That is why we will continue to support the Union Learning Fund and unionlearn, the TUC's learning and skills organisation, to develop and promote the work of Union Learning Representatives so that by 2010 there will be 22,000 trained Union Learning Representatives helping over 250,000 workers back into learning each year.

Asylum: Detainees

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many failed asylum seekers were detained in the immigration detention estate on 28 February 2009;
	(2)  how many people were detained in the immigration detention estate on 28 February 2009, broken down by nationality.

Phil Woolas: Published national statistics on persons (including those who had claimed asylum at some stage) held in detention solely under Immigration Act powers on a snapshot basis are published quarterly. Information on persons detained as at 27 December 2008 by country of nationality has been published in Table J of the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom4th Quarter 2008 supplementary tables, which are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	Comparable information for March 2009 will be published on 20 May.
	It is not possible to say, within these statistics, how many of the detainees are failed asylum seekers.

Asylum: Housing

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers were living in National Asylum Support Service-funded dispersal accommodation on 1 January 2009.

Phil Woolas: The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) no longer exists, although its functions continue to be exercised by the UK Border Agency.
	Published statistics take a snapshot of asylum seekers supported at the end of the quarter. As at the end of December 2008, there were 25,145 asylum seekers recorded as supported in accommodation in the United Kingdom. This excludes any asylum seekers in initial accommodation and unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
	Information on asylum support is published annually and quarterly in the Control of Immigration statistical bulletins. Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html

Asylum: Housing

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many houses were rented by her Department under the National Asylum Support Service scheme on 1 January 2009.

Phil Woolas: The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) no longer exists, although its functions continue to be exercised by the UK Border Agency. The UK Border Agency has 28 contracts with providers to supply accommodation for eligible asylum seekers. To collate the accommodation they provide to accommodate asylum seekers would be disproportionate cost.

Biometrics: Airports

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many airports were using iris-recognition technology systems on 28 February 2009.

Phil Woolas: Four airports, Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham, were using IRIS technology systems on 28 February 2009.

Community Service Orders: Young People

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young people aged between 13 and 19 years have served a community service order in  (a) England,  (b) the North East and  (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last five years.

David Hanson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 replaced the community service order with the community punishment order (CPO) for young offenders between the ages of 16 years and 17 years. This order is not available for children between the ages of 13 years and 15 years. Young offenders between the ages of 16 and 17 years may also be sentenced to the community punishment and rehabilitation order (CPRO), which combines community punishment with a period of supervision by a member of a Youth Offending Team.
	Following the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 in April 2005, community punishment orders were replaced by the unpaid work requirement of the community or suspended sentence order for offenders over 18 years of age.
	The number of young offenders between the ages of 16 and 19 years who commenced community punishment or community punishment and rehabilitation orders in England and Wales and the north-east region during the last five years, as well as the number of unpaid work requirements started, is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  England and Wales 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 CPO 10,833 10,787 7,227 3,262 3,212 
			 CPRO 3,405 3,761 2,650 1,116 1,246 
			 Unpaid work   5,237 13,569 15,861 
		
	
	
		
			  North-east region 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 CPO 473 429 345 161 150 
			 CPRO 295 318 201 93 78 
			 Unpaid work   295 916 1,081 
		
	
	It is not possible to provide sentencing data by constituency.
	Matters arising in Scotland and Northern Ireland are for the Scottish government and the Northern Ireland Office respectively.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Departmental Bank Services

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with which banks her Department has or has had contracts for the provision of financial advice, for the financial year 2008-09.

Phil Woolas: From best available records the Home Department inclusive of its agencies does not hold and has not held contracts for the provision of financial advice for the financial year 2008-09.

Departmental Databases

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East of 5 November 2008,  Official Report, column 598W, on departmental databases, by what means her Department uses ACORN data to target its communications.

Phil Woolas: We use ACORN to target our marketing campaigns by geographical location, and demographic factors. For example we target responsible drinking messages at young people.

Departmental Public Consultation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what payments for  (a) polling and  (b) other services her Department has made to (i) Deborah Mattinson and (ii) Opinion Leader Research Limited since 31 December 2007; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: None.

Illegal Immigrants

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate her Department has made of the numbers of people in the UK illegally; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Since the phasing out of embarkation controls in 1994 no government has ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case.
	As part of the Government's 10-point plan for delivery, by 2010 over 95 per cent. of non-EEA foreign nationals will be counted in and out of the country, rising to 100 per cent. by 2014. This is part of a sweeping programme of border protection which also includes the global roll-out of fingerprint visas, watch-list checks for all travellers before they arrive or depart from the UK and ID cards for foreign nationals.
	The Government's plans, set out in 'Enforcing the Deal', published on 19 June 2008, set a clear goal to target and remove the most harmful people first, working with local authorities and enforcement agencies to shut down the privileges of the UK to those breaking the rules.
	Copies of this document are placed in the Library of the House. It is also available to view at:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/managingourborders/enforcementbusinessplan08_09/enforcementbusinessplan08_09.pdf?view=Binary

Illegal Immigrants: Detainees

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants were being held in police detention on 28 February 2009.

Phil Woolas: The information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual records which would be at disproportionate cost.

Immigration

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the evidential basis is for the Minister for Borders and Immigration disagreeing with the Office for National Statistics' figures on the number of the British population who are born abroad.

Phil Woolas: This Government established the UK Statistics Authority, the executive office of which is the Office for National Statistics. These bodies report directly to Parliament.
	I made it clear that my concerns were not with the figures themselves but rather the news release published at short-notice on 11 February 2009 entitled UK Born and Non UK Born Employment and the way these figures, taken together, can be used by others.
	The figure of 6.5 million people (one in nine of the total population) born overseas and resident in the UK, published by the Office of National Statistics on 24 February 2009, is a wide definition which includes British nationals born overseas (for example children whose parents are in the armed forces). The 4.1 million figure (one in 15 of the total population) provides a better indication of the nationality of those resident in the UK.
	They also include people who are here temporarily (working or students).
	We will continue to use the Points Based System to ensure that we are doing the right thing by British workers and for the long-term stability of the economy. Given the economic circumstances and the action we are taking to be more selective, we expect the number of migrants coming to the UK from outside the EEA to fall during the next financial year.

Immigration Controls: Educational Institutions

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions there have been between her Department and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills on the requirements placed upon higher and further education institutions under Tier 4 of the immigration controls established in 2008.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 9 March 2009
	The phased implementation of Tier 4 of the Points Based System, which has been agreed with the education sector and DIUS, commenced on 28 July 2008, when the UK Border Agency started accepting sponsor licence applications from educational institutions that wish to bring students from outside the European Economic Area to the UK for study. The Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 314) laid before the House on 9 March 2009 marks the start of the second phase: from 31 March 2009, only UK Border Agency licensed institutions will be able to bring students to the UK, and student applicants will need to meet the Tier 4 points test before being granted leave to enter or remain.
	The Joint Education Taskforce (JET) is the UK Border Agency's principal mechanism for consultation with the education sector and has been running since 2005. The JET comprises senior figures and representative bodies from all parts of the education sector, including higher and further education and officials from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), and it and its sub-groups meet on a regular basis.
	In addition, throughout the development of Tier 4, the Home Department has had numerous meetings with DIUS and the education sector at both ministerial and official level. There has also been frequent ministerial and official correspondence between both Departments and the sector, regarding the requirements of the new system upon higher and further education institutions.

Members: Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the inquiry of 23 October 2008 from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood on Noreen Akhtar (reference A1048872).

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency responded to the email from my right hon. Friend on 6 March 2009.

National Security

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings Ministers in her Department have had with groups of British Muslims on the possible effects of events in Gaza since 27 December 2008 on domestic security levels; and what the names were of the individuals who attended each meeting.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 27 January 2009
	On 8 January I met individuals from the Shah Jahal mosque, Bristol and on 15 January the Communities Secretary, the Home Secretary, the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr. Khan) and I met representatives and individuals from a number of organisations, including the Sufi Muslim Council, Al Khoei Foundation, the NMWAG, the Ithna Asheri Khoja Shia World Federation, Association of Muslim Social Scientists, the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, Active Change Foundation, and Quilliam Foundation.

Offenders: Personal Records

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances information from the Police National Computer is sold; to whom it may sold; what charges may be made; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The Police National Computer is operated and managed by the National Policing Improvement Agency on behalf of the police service.
	The cost of operation and management is charged to users (police forces in England, Wales (Scotland, Northern Ireland)) and the following bodies which are authorised by information access principles:
	1. Access Northern Ireland
	2. British Transport Police
	3. Charity Commission
	4. Civil Nuclear Constabulary
	5. Courts (Warrant Enforcement)
	6. Criminal case Review Commission
	7. Criminal Records Bureau
	8. Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Litigations and Prosecutions
	9. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
	10. Department for Transport
	11. Department of Works and Pensions Solicitors
	12. Disclosure Scotland
	13. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority
	14. Environment Agency
	15. Financial Services Authority
	16. Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	17. Guernsey Police
	18. Health and Safety Executive
	19. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary
	20. Highways Agency
	21. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
	22. Home Office
	23. Independent Police Complaints Commission
	24. Isle of Man Police
	25. Jersey Police
	26. Mersey Tunnel Police
	27. Ministry of Defence (MOD) Police
	28. Ministry Of Justice
	29. MOD Defence Vetting Agency
	30. National Air Traffic Services Ltd.
	31. National Offender Management Service
	32. National Health Service Counter Fraud
	33.Office for Civil Nuclear Security
	34. Office of fair Trading
	35. Port of Tilbury Police
	36. Prison Service
	37. Royal Military Police
	38. Security Services
	39. Service Police Crime Bureau
	40. Serious Organised Crime Agency (Domestic)
	41. Serious Organised Crime Agency (International)
	42. United Kingdom Border Agency
	43. Vehicle and Operator Services Agency.

Terrorism

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in implementing counter-terrorism local profiles to enable the sharing of information between local authority chief executives and police borough commanders.

Vernon Coaker: Guidance was sent to police counter-terrorism environments in January, and counter-terrorism local profiles are currently under production by forces. Some have already been completed and delivered to BCU commanders and local authority chief executives. We are working with ACPO and forces to support the delivery of CTLPs for priority areas in the 24 forces in receipt of PREVENT funding by June, and all other areas by 31 August.

UK Border Agency: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency will reply to the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare's, letters of 18 November 2008 and 5 January 2009 on behalf of his constituent, Mr. Richard Roller.

Phil Woolas: Visa Services Directorate replied to the hon. Member's correspondence on 9 March. The Directorate apologises for the delay in replying. However, the Border Agency has no record of receiving the correspondence originally and Visa Services Directorate obtained a copy from the hon. Member's office on 2 February.

Work Permits

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2009,  Official Report, column 2057W, on work permits: how many individuals obtained a work permit on the basis of an intracompany transfer for  (a) 2004 and  (b) 2008.

Phil Woolas: Intra-Company Transfers are an important part of making the UK an attractive place in which to do business. Changes introduced under the points based system means that companies are limited to a pre-set yearly allocation of Certificates of Sponsorship. This allocation is reviewed annually to ensure that numbers required are fully justified.
	The following table shows the number of work permit applications approved for Intra-Company Transfers for 2004 and 2008 broken down by industry sector.
	
		
			  Number of individual work permit intra-company transfer applications approved fo r 2004 and 2008 broken down by industry s ector 
			  Industry sector  2004  2008 
			 Administration, business and management services 5,250 6,690 
			 Agriculture activities 15 25 
			 Computer services 16,540 25,740 
			 Construction and land services 510 880 
			 Education and cultural activities 215 250 
			 Entertainment and leisure services 165 220 
			 Extraction industries 955 1,115 
			 Financial services 3,825 5,275 
			 Fish processingSBS *  
			 Government 30 20 
			 Health and medical services 420 455 
			 HospitalitySBS *  
			 Hospitality and catering 230 90 
			 Law related services 290 340 
			 Manufacturing 1,975 2,415 
			 Meat processing SBS   
			 Other food processingSBS  5 
			 Real estate and property services 25 45 
			 Retail and related services 430 550 
			 Security and protection services 30 115 
			 Sporting activities 10 10 
			 Telecommunications 890 2,460 
			 Transport 570 680 
			 Utilitiesgas, electric, water 405 635 
			 Total 32,770 48,010 
			 * Indicates one or two.  Indicates nil.  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to nearest 5. 2. Because of rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown. 3. The industry sectors are not based on the ONS Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). 4. The figures quoted are not provided under national statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.  Caveats: The figures do not equate to the number of individual nationals who were granted permits because they include those applications approved to extend or amend an existing permit or where the individual has moved to another job with a different employer. Not all those who were granted a permit took up the job and some may have been refused entry clearance or further leave to remain.

Work Permits

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2009,  Official Report, column 2057W, on work permits, how many applications for a work permit on the basis of an intracompany transfer in respect of non-UK nationals were  (a) made and  (b) granted in each year since 1997.

Phil Woolas: Intra-Company Transfers are an important part of making the UK an attractive place in which to do business. Changes introduced under the points based system means that companies are limited to a pre-set yearly allocation of Certificates of Sponsorship. This allocation is reviewed annually to ensure that numbers required are fully justified.
	The following table shows the number of work permit applications made and approved for Intra-Company Transfers in each year for the period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2008.
	
		
			  Number of individual work permit intra-company transfer applications made and approved in each year for the period  1 January 2000 to  31 December 2008 
			   Applications made  Applications approved 
			 2000 26,900 26,155 
			 2001 28,200 27,440 
			 2002 27,400 26,100 
			 2003 28,350 27,385 
			 2004 33,645 32,770 
			 2005 34,680 33,745 
			 2006 43,950 43,050 
			 2007 50,225 48,735 
			 2008 49,710 48,010 
			 Total 323,060 313,385 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to nearest 5. 2. Because of rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown. 3. The figures quoted are not provided under national statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.  Caveats: The figures do not equate to the number of individual nationals who were granted permits because they include those applications approved to extend or amend an existing permit or where the individual has moved to another job with a different employer. Not all those who were granted a permit took up the job and some may have been refused entry clearance or further leave to remain.

Work Permits

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2009,  Official Report, column 2057W, on work permits, how many non-UK nationals of each nationality obtained a work permit on the basis of an intracompany transfer in  (a) 2004 and  (b) 2008.

Phil Woolas: The following table shows the number of work permit applications approved for intra-company transfers in 2004 and 2008 broken down by Nationality.
	
		
			  Number of individual work permit intracompany transfer applications approved for 2004 and 2008 broken down by nationality 
			  Nationality  2004  2008 
			 Afghanistan 5 15 
			 Albania 5 5 
			 Algeria 15 25 
			 Andorra *  
			 Angola 10 25 
			 Argentina 65 85 
			 Armenia 10 * 
			 Australia 1,285 1,380 
			 Azerbaijan 55 40 
			 Bahamas 5 * 
			 Bahrain * 5 
			 Bangladesh 20 15 
			 Barbados 5 * 
			 Belarus 5 10 
			 Belize   
			 Benin *  
			 Bolivia 5 5 
			 Bosnia-Herzegovina * 10 
			 Botswana * 10 
			 Brazil 185 275 
			 British national overseas 45 10 
			 British Overseas CITZ.   
			 Brunei 5  
			 Bulgaria 50 45 
			 Burkina Faso   
			 Burma  10 
			 Burundi * * 
			 Cambodia * * 
			 Cameroon 5 10 
			 Canada 745 750 
			 Cape Verde *  
			 Chad *  
			 Chile 20 20 
			 China 395 695 
			 Colombia 60 85 
			 Comoros  * 
			 Congo * 5 
			 Costa Rica 15 5 
			 Croatia 20 30 
			 Cuba 5 * 
			 Cyprus 5  
			 Czech republic 25  
			 Djibouti * * 
			 Dominica * * 
			 Dominican Republic * * 
			 Ecuador 5 5 
			 Egypt 55 150 
			 El Salvador * 5 
			 Eritrea *  
			 Ethiopia 5 5 
			 Fiji  * 
			 Gabon  * 
			 Gambia * * 
			 Georgia 20 5 
			 Ghana 15 15 
			 Grenada * * 
			 Guatemala  5 
			 Guinea   
			 Guyana * * 
			 Haiti * * 
			 Honduras 5 5 
			 Hong Kong (British) 10 5 
			 Hong Kong (Chinese) 35 20 
			 Hungary 50  
			 India 17,860 31,090 
			 Indonesia 45 65 
			 Iran 30 40 
			 Iraq * 20 
			 Israel 95 100 
			 Ivory coast  5 
			 Jamaica 10 5 
			 Japan 2,065 2,010 
			 Jordan 15 5 
			 Kazakhstan 70 80 
			 Kenya 40 65 
			 Kosovo  * 
			 Kuwait 5 5 
			 Kyrgyzstan * 5 
			 Laos *  
			 Latvia 5  
			 Lebanon 25 50 
			 Liberia   
			 Libya 15 30 
			 Lithuania *  
			 Macedonia 5 5 
			 Madagascar  * 
			 Malawi 5 * 
			 Malaysia 220 405 
			 Maldives   
			 Mali  5 
			 Malta 10  
			 Mauritius 10 15 
			 Mexico 80 140 
			 Moldova 5 45 
			 Monaco  * 
			 Mongolia   
			 Morocco 15 25 
			 Mozambique * * 
			 Namibia 5 * 
			 Nepal * 15 
			 New Zealand 200 160 
			 Nicaragua   
			 Niger   
			 Nigeria 120 95 
			 North Korea   
			 Oman 5 5 
			 Pakistan 185 240 
			 Palestine * * 
			 Panama 5 5 
			 Papua New Guinea   
			 Paraguay 5  
			 Peru 15 15 
			 Philippines 160 300 
			 Poland 75  
			 Qatar  * 
			 Romania 90 110 
			 Russia 210 350 
			 Rwanda  * 
			 Samoa   
			 Saudi Arabia 25 15 
			 Senegal 5 10 
			 Serbia 10 10 
			 Seychelles *  
			 Sierra Leone *  
			 Singapore 175 185 
			 Slovakia 5  
			 Slovenia 5  
			 Somalia * * 
			 South Africa 625 545 
			 South Korea 275 245 
			 Sri Lanka 60 150 
			 St. Kitts   
			 St. Lucia 5 * 
			 Stateless   
			 Sudan * 5 
			 Surinam  * 
			 Swaziland *  
			 Switzerland   
			 Syria 5 5 
			 Tadzhikistan 5 * 
			 Taiwan 90 105 
			 Tanzania 10 5 
			 Thailand 90 65 
			 Togo * * 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 35 45 
			 Tunisia 10 20 
			 Turkey 215 195 
			 Turkmenistan * 5 
			 Uganda 10 10 
			 Ukraine 40 60 
			 United Arab Emirates 5 5 
			 United states 5,940 6,855 
			 Uruguay 5 10 
			 Uzbekistan 10 20 
			 Venezuela 35 40 
			 Vietnam 10 25 
			 Yemen Republic of   
			 Yugoslavia 5 5 
			 Zaire *  
			 Zambia 5 10 
			 Zimbabwe 55 20 
			 Total 32,770 48,010 
			 * Indicates 1 or 2  Indicates Nil  Notes: 1. Because of rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown. 2. he figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. 3. Figures are rounded to nearest 5.  Caveats: The figures do not equate to the number of individual nationals who were granted permits because they include those applications approved to extend or amend an existing permit or where the individual has moved to another job with a different employer. Not all those who were granted a permit took up the job and some may have been refused entry clearance or further leave to remain.

Work Permits

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits were  (a) applied for by and  (b) granted to persons who were not EEA or Swiss nationals for work in (i) health and medical services, (ii) social care services, (iii) hospitality and catering, (iv) computer services, (v) telecommunications and (vi) financial services in each of the last 10 years.

Phil Woolas: The following tables show the number of individual work permit applications applied for and approved for persons who were not EEA or Swiss nationals in each of the last 10 years broken down by specific industry sector. Data on social care services has not been provided as we do not collate information under this general sector, only under specific occupations.
	
		
			  Work permit applications applied for and granted between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 2008 
			   1999  2000  2001  2002  2003 
			  Industry sector  Total applied for  Granted  Total applied for  Granted  Total applied for  Granted  Total applied for  Granted  Total applied for  Granted 
			 Computer Services 2,130 1,965 17,510 16,640 23,775 22,680 22,115 19,430 19,185 16,810 
			 Financial Services 1,345 1,290 7,890 7,586 8,575 8,195 6,645 6,305 5,960 5,530 
			 Health and Medical Services 3,660 3,430 20,510 19,405 31,995 29,695 42,960 37,270 48,355 42,645 
			 Hospitality: Sectors Based Scheme 0 0 0 0 0 0 * 0 945 715 
			 Hospitality and Catering 285 210 1,515 1,050 6,325 4,065 13,420 9,800 22,035 14,470 
			 Telecommunications 415 380 2,585 2,455 2,305 2,195 2,665 2,470 1,940 1,770 
		
	
	
		
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			  Industry sector  Total applied for  Granted  Total applied for  Granted  Total applied for  Granted  Total applied for  Granted  Total applied for  Granted 
			 Computer Services 23,040 21,070 23,045 21,355 29,050 27,695 33,230 31,130 31,270 29,435 
			 Financial Services 7,515 6,970 8,210 7,615 10,615 10,065 12,045 11,290 10,520 9,880 
			 Health and Medical Services 52,625 46,845 45,390 38,950 36,835 31,085 25,090 18,020 22,310 18,800 
			 Hospitality: Sectors Based Scheme 7,165 4,565 1,795 1,215 755 430 395 145 235 85 
			 Hospitality and Catering 28,990 17,310 19,030 10,606 17,765 10,960 17,895 8,600 15,670 7,710 
			 Telecommunications 1,820 1,595 1,585 1,305 2,790 2,600 4,495 4,190 3,285 3,090 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to nearest 5. 2. * Indicates 1 or 2. 3. The industry sectors are not based on the ONS Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 4. The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.  Caveats: The figures do not equate to the number of individual nationals who were granted permits because they include those applications approved to extend or amend an existing permit or where the individual has moved to another job with a different employer. Not all those who were granted a permit took up the job and some may have been refused entry clearance or further leave to remain.

Work Permits: Overseas Students

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether post-study work arrangements for international students will remain unchanged for the next academic year.

Phil Woolas: From 31 March the UK Border Agency will no longer award points under the Tier 1 Post Study route for Postgraduate Diplomas or Postgraduate Certificates other than Postgraduate Certificates of Education. These changes were laid before Parliament on 9 March 2009 in Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 314.

Departmental Higher Civil Servants

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many senior civil servants his Department employs, broken down by pay band.

Mike O'Brien: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has been formed by bringing together work previously covered by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The final details of staff transferring from these departments are yet to be confirmed.
	However, the current indicative numbers for Senior Civil Servants (SCS) are as follows (expressed as Full Time Equivalents or FTE):
	
		
			  Number 
			 SCS Pay Band 1 53.8 
			 SCS Pay Band 2 14.1 
			 SCS Pay Band 3 4.0 
			 Permanent Secretary 1.0

Energy Supply

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of properties which experienced a loss of power supply  (a) in England and  (b) in Leicester in the last (i) week, (ii) month and (iii) 12 months.

Mike O'Brien: The latest audited data from Ofgem are for 2007-08. Each household or meter point experiencing a power cut is counted as one interruption.
	It is not possible to split the data for the areas requested but for Great Britain there were 22,022,045 electricity supply interruptions. On average this will be 423,501 a week and 1,835,170 a month.
	The distribution network operator for Leicester is Central Networks East, they serve 2,576,436 customers across the east midlands. For 2007-08 there were 2,153,411 electricity supply interruptions in their area. On average this will be 41,412 a week and 179,451 a month.

Energy Supply

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of properties which on average have experienced a loss of power supply  (a) nationally and  (b) in Winchester in each (i) week, (ii) month and (iii) year of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The latest audited data from Ofgem is for 2007-08. Each household or meter point experiencing a power cut is counted as one interruption.
	Averaged over the last five years for Great Britain there were (i) 437,095 electricity supply interruptions each week, (ii) 1,894,079 electricity supply interruptions each month and (iii) 22,728,946 electricity supply interruptions each year.
	The distribution network operator serving Winchester is Southern Electric Power Distribution, they serve 2,876,427 customers across central southern England. Averaged over the last five years for their area there were (i) 46,692 electricity supply interruptions each week, (ii) 202,330 electricity supply interruptions each month and (iii) 2,427,960 electricity supply interruptions each year.

Fuel Poverty

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the groups of vulnerable people which are most likely to be in fuel poverty; and what account is being taken of the needs of cancer patients in considering existing fuel poverty policies and objectives.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 13 March 2009
	The Department monitors the number of vulnerable households that are in fuel poverty. For this purpose, vulnerable households include all households containing children, the elderly or somebody who is sick or disabled.
	In 2006, of 15.2 million vulnerable households in England, 1.9 million (13 per cent.) were fuel poor. The following table gives a detailed breakdown for each vulnerable group and is based on the latest figures available for England, for 2006.
	
		
			   Number of households (thousand)  
			  Household contains at least one person:  Fuel poor  Total  Percentage of households  fuel poor 
			 Child 392 6,310 6 
			 Over 60 1,285 7,539 17 
			 Disabled or long term sick 915 6,198 15 
			  Note: That the sum of the groups do not sum to the total, as some households are in more than one group. 
		
	
	As the majority of fuel poor households also have the lowest incomes, the Government has taken the approach that the most cost-effective, fair and efficient method of identifying vulnerable householders most likely to be at risk of fuel poverty is through the receipt of benefits (primarily means tested).
	The Government recognise that not all cancer patients will necessarily be fuel poor or entitled to receive assistance aimed at those most vulnerable to fuel poverty. However, where those cancer patients are in receipt of benefitswhether income or pension related, with children under 16 or on disability living allowance, this will qualify them for additional heating and energy efficiency help under the Warm Front Scheme, for example.
	Any household can qualify for subsidised energy saving measures from their energy supplier under the carbon emissions reduction target.
	Older people are targeted as they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of cold weather during the winter months and of course the winter fuel payment helps older people with cancer to pay their fuel bills. This year the payment is 250 to over 60s and 400 to over 80s.

Fuel Poverty: Statistics

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what data his Department collects on fuel poverty; how frequently such data are collected; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: The Department publishes data on fuel poverty annually. The data used to calculate fuel poverty estimates for England come from the English House Condition Survey (EHCS), compiled by Communities and Local Government (CLG), and energy price information, published by DECC. The EHCS collects data on features of each dwelling, including fuel sources and efficiency measures, which enable energy required to achieve the adequate standard of warmth to be derived.
	The EHCS also collects information on householders, such as their income. Combining required energy consumption with prices and incomes, each dwelling covered in the survey is classified as either fuel poor or not, and the results aggregated to produce data for the whole of England. The EHCS additionally contains a range of other data that allow DECC to split fuel poverty by various other measures, for example, age of householders, type of dwelling, etc.

National Grid

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which power stations of over 50 MW capacity are connected to the national grid in each  (a) Government Office region,  (b) local authority area and  (c) constituency.

Mike O'Brien: Detail of UK power stations together with their capacity and region are published under section 5.11 of the Digest of United Kingdom energy statistics (DUKES) available at:
	www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/energy/statistics/publications/dukes/page45537.html
	A list of power stations 50 MW together with the Government office region, local authority area and constituency in which each are located is annexed.

10 Downing Street

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 581-2W, on 10 Downing Street, if he will place in the Library a copy of the list of the retail prices for each item of merchandise.

Kevin Brennan: The merchandise products listed are unsubsidised and are available for staff to purchase on a not-for-profit basis. Current prices range from 0.40 for a card to 49.44 for the No. 10 door model.

Catz Club

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2008,  Official Report, column 835W, on Futurebuilders: Catz Club, on what date the decision was taken to write off the funding given to Catz Club.

Liam Byrne: The decision to write off the funding given to Catz Club was recommended by the Futurebuilders England Ltd. Investment Committee on 5 February 2008 and confirmed by the Futurebuilders England Board on 19 March 2008.

Civil Servants

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants there were in each Government department on  (a) 1 November 2008 and  (b) the latest date for which information is available.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many civil servants there were in each government department on (a) 1 November 2008 and (b) the latest date for which information is available. (263146)
	Estimates of employment for the home civil service are taken from the Civil Service element of the Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (QPSES). Data for the survey is collected on a quarterly basis; the latest date for which information is available is September 2008 (Annex A).
	Updated estimates of the number of civil servants in each government department will be published on 18 March 2009 and will be available on-line:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/Table6AllDepts.xls
	
		
			  Annex ACivil service employment by Department( 1) , Quarter 3 2008 
			   Headcount 
			  Attorney General's departments  
			 Crown Prosecution Service 8,770 
			 Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate 50 
			 Attorney General's Office 40 
			 Serious Fraud Office 320 
			 Treasury Solicitor 810 
			 Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office 350 
			   
			  Cabinet Office  
			 Cabinet Office excl agencies 1,250 
			   
			  Other Cabinet Office agencies  
			 Central Office of Information 770 
			 National School of Government 250 
			 Parliamentary Counsel Office 80 
			   
			  HM Treasury  
			 HM Treasury 1,200 
			   
			  Chancellor's other departments  
			 Debt Management Office 80 
			 Government Actuary's Department 110 
			 National Savings and Investments 150 
			 Office of Government Commerce 250 
			 OGC Buying Solutions 270 
			 Office for National Statistics(2) 0 
			 Royal Mint 810 
			   
			  UK Statistics Authority  
			 UK Statistics Authority(2,)( )(3,)( )(4) 3,830 
			   
			  Charity Commission  
			 Charity Commission 490 
			   
			  Communities and Local Government  
			 Department for Communities and Local Government 2,840 
			 Fire Service College 240 
			 Ordnance Survey 1,420 
			 Planning Inspectorate 880 
			 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre 50 
			   
			  Culture, Media and Sport  
			 Department for Culture Media and Sport 470 
			 Royal Parks 100 
			   
			  Defence  
			 Ministry of Defence 69,430 
			 Defence Support Group 3,280 
			 Defence Science and Technology Laboratory 3,510 
			 Meteorological Office 1,830 
			 UK Hydrographic Office 1,020 
			   
			  Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills  
			 Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills 840 
			 National Weights and Measures Laboratory 50 
			 UK Intellectual Property Office 1,040 
			   
			  Department for Children, Schools and Families  
			 Department for Children, Schools and Families 3,230 
			   
			  Ofsted  
			 Ofsted 2,620 
			   
			  Environment, Food and Rural Affairs  
			 Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs 3,100 
			 Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science 570 
			 Central Science Laboratory 650 
			 Government Decontamination Services 30 
			 Marine Fisheries Agency 190 
			 Ofwat 210 
			 Rural Payments Agency 3,530 
			 State Veterinary Service 1,660 
			 Veterinary Laboratories Agency 1,250 
			 Veterinary Medicines Directorate 140 
			   
			  Export Credits Guarantee Department  
			 Export Credit Guarantee Department 210 
			   
			  Foreign and Commonwealth Office  
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (excl agencies) 5,860 
			 Wilton Park Executive Agency 80 
			   
			  Health  
			 Department of Health (excl agencies) 2,260 
			 Food Standards Agency 790 
			 Meat Hygiene Service 1,100 
			 Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency 900 
			 National Healthcare Purchasing and Supplies 270 
			 NHS Business Services Authority 240 
			   
			  HM Revenue and Customs  
			 HM Revenue and Customs 88,230 
			 Valuation Office 4,100 
			   
			  Home Office  
			 Home Office (excl agencies) 2,530 
			 Criminal Records Bureau 540 
			 Identity and Passport Service(3) 4,580 
			 UK Border Agency 18,660 
			 Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism 260 
			   
			  International Development  
			 Department for International Development 1,640 
			   
			  Justice  
			 Ministry of Justice (excl agencies) 3,450 
			 HM Courts Service 21,530 
			 Land Registry 8,020 
			 National Archives 630 
			 Public Guardianship Office 330 
			 Tribunals Service 3,000 
			 Scotland Office 100 
			 Wales Office 60 
			 Public Sector Prison Service 51,620 
			   
			  Northern Ireland Office  
			 Northern Ireland Office 130 
			   
			  Security and Intelligence Services  
			 Security and Intelligence Services 5,520 
			   
			  Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform  
			 Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 3,610 
			 Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service 830 
			 Companies House 1,180 
			 Insolvency Service 2,550 
			 Office of Fair Trading 610 
			 Office of Gas and Electricity Market 310 
			 Postal Services Commission 60 
			   
			  Transport  
			 Department for Transport 2,080 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 6,790 
			 Driving Standards Agency 2,740 
			 Government Car and Despatch Agency 310 
			 Highways Agency 3,530 
			 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 1,150 
			 Office of Rail Regulation 350 
			 Vehicle Certification Agency 140 
			 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency 2,660 
			   
			  Work and Pensions  
			 DWP Corporate and Shared Services 11,500 
			 Child Support Agency 10,570 
			 Job Centre Plus 74,870 
			 Pensions and Disability Carers Service 17,550 
			 The Health and Safety Executive 3,840 
			 The Rent Service 500 
			   
			  Scottish government  
			 Scottish government (excl agencies) 4,990 
			 Scottish Housing Regulator 60 
			 Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service 1,710 
			 Courts Group 30 
			 Fisheries Research Services 330 
			 General Register Scotland 310 
			 HM Inspectorate of Education 210 
			 Historic Scotland 1,060 
			 National Archive for Scotland 160 
			 Office of Accountant in Bankruptcy 120 
			 Registers of Scotland 1,430 
			 Scottish Court Service 1,410 
			 Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency 310 
			 Scottish Prison Service Headquarters 4,020 
			 Scottish Public Pensions Agency 240 
			 Social Work Inspection Agency 50 
			 Student Awards Agency 150 
			 Transport Scotland 290 
			 Office for the Scottish Charity Regulator 50 
			 Mental Health Tribunal Scotland 80 
			 Welsh Assembly  
			 Welsh Assembly Government 6,070 
			 ESTYN 100 
			   
			 Total employment 521,560 
			 (1) Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10, and numbers less than five are represented by ... (2) The UK Statistics Authority (the Authority) was established on 1 April 2008, when the 'Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007' came into effect. One of the functions of the Authority is to oversee the Office for National Statistics (ONS)its executive office. (3) On 1 April 2008 employees of the General Register Office were transferred from the UK Statistics Authority to the Identity and Passport Service (IPS). (4) As of 1 April 2008, Field Interviewers are now classified as civil servants and are included as UK Statistics Authority employees.  Notes: 1. The Disability and Carers Service and the Pension Service are now called the Pension, Disability and Carers Service. 2. Communities Scotland, Scottish Agricultural Science Agency and Scottish Building Standards Agency were abolished on 1 April 2008. Staff moved into the Scottish government. 3. Scottish Housing Regulator was setup on 1 April 2008.  Source: Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey

Departmental Bank Services

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with which banks the Cabinet Office has or has had contracts for the provision of financial advice, for the financial year 2008-09.

Kevin Brennan: To date, Cabinet Office has not let any contracts with banks for the provision of financial advice in the financial year 2008-09. Full details will not be available until the Cabinet Office accounts have been audited and laid before Parliament, expected to be shortly before the summer recess.

Departmental Internet

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what private sector support has been provided to his Department's Real Help Now website.

Liam Byrne: The Real Help Now website brings together information about the range of support available during the economic downturn and makes it easier for people and businesses to access that support.
	No private sector support has been provided to the website. A private sector contractor was engaged under standard Cabinet Office procurement arrangements to assist in the technical development of the website.

Employment: Disabled

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people registered as disabled have been employed in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 13 March 2009
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people registered as disabled have been unemployed in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. (263812)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles estimates of unemployment from sources in which limiting health problems are recorded, rather than whether or not people are registered as disabled. Table 1 shows the estimated number of people who had a limiting health problem lasting more than 12 months and who were unemployed. Estimates are available for the 12 month period ending February 2001 onwards. They are derived from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessor the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS), following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
	Sample sizes for Jarrow and South Tyneside are too small to calculate reliable estimates.
	Estimates for the United Kingdom as a whole are not available prior to the 12 month period ending February 2004. Estimates for Great Britain have therefore also been provided.
	As these estimates are for a subset of the population, and some are for small geographical areas, they are all based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in Table 1.
	
		
			  Number of unemployed disabled persons( 1)  resident in Jarrow, South Tyneside, North East, Great Britain and United Kingdom, 2000-08 
			  Thousand 
			  12 months ending  North East  Great Britain  United Kingdom 
			 February 2001 23 339 (2) 
			 February 2002 17 299 (2) 
			 February 2003 14 278 (2) 
			 February 2004 16 289 296 
			 March 2005 13 252 260 
			 March 2006 18 299 305 
			 March 2007 17 305 311 
			 March 2008 16 321 328 
			 June 2008(3) ***19 *327 *333 
			 (1) Persons age 16+ who have health problems lasting more than 12 months. (2) Figures are disclosive or statistically unreliable. (3) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below.  Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CVfor example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220  Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%)  Statistical Robustness * 0 [le] CV5 Estimates are considered precise ** 5 [le] CV 10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 [le] CV 20 Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes  Source: Annual Population Survey and Annual Labour Force Survey

Population

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with reference to the answer of 5 November 2008 to the right hon. Member for Birkenhead,  Official Report, column 504W, on population, what the latest population projections for the UK for  (a) 2031,  (b) 2056 and  (c) 2081 are.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question making reference to the answer of 5 November 2008 to the Right Hon. Member for Birkenhead (Official Report, column 504w, on population) and asking for the latest population projections for the UK for (a) 2031, (b) 2056 and (c) 2081.
	The most recent national population projections, based on the population at the middle of 2006, were published by the Office for National Statistics on 23 October 2007. The main, or principal, projections are based on the best assumptions available at the time of future expected levels of migration, fertility and mortality.
	The table below gives the projected UK population under the principal projections for the three years requested.
	
		
			  Total projected population of the UK 2006-based principal population projections 
			   M illion 
			 2031 71.1 
			 2056 78.6 
			 2081 85.3 
		
	
	The next set of national population projections will be based at the middle of 2008 and are due for publication by the Office for National Statistics in autumn 2009.

Social Enterprises

Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what arrangements the Cabinet Office has put in place for people in Oxfordshire to access the School for Social Entrepreneurs.

Kevin Brennan: In Real Help for Communities, the Office of the Third Sector announced a 0.5 million investment in the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) in 2009-10 to enable them to increase their capacity and double the number of social entrepreneurs that it supports.
	This will enable SSE to open new schools in two English regions where they currently have no working presence, one of which is the South East. The new South East School will open its inaugural programme later this year and will provide social entrepreneurs from across the region, including Oxfordshire, with support to enable them to successfully establish or grow community enterprises.
	Social entrepreneurs from Oxfordshire will be able to apply to the new school in the South East as well as to schools in other regions. There are no paper qualifications necessary for entry to SSE programmes as places are offered on the basis of an individual's entrepreneurial qualities and their engagement with the community they are aiming to serve.

Voluntary Organisations: Finance

Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what arrangements the Cabinet Office has made for charities and other voluntary organisations in Oxfordshire to access the Future Builders Fund in order to enhance their capacity.

Kevin Brennan: Futurebuilders is a fund open to third sector organisations in all areas of England looking to build their capacity in order to bid for and win public service delivery contracts. A third sector organisation can access the fund provided it meets the criteria of the Futurebuilders Programme.

Voluntary Organisations: Finance

Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what arrangements the Cabinet Office has put in place for charities and other voluntary organisations in Oxfordshire to access grants and endowments through its grants programme.

Kevin Brennan: The Cabinet Office delivers grassroots grants through the Community Development Foundation (CDF).
	CDF have appointed a local grant administrator in each top tier local authority area in the country to award grants and raise endowments. In Oxfordshire the local funder is Oxfordshire Community Foundation.
	Through Oxfordshire Community Foundation, up to 1.5 million will be invested in Oxfordshire over the course of the three year programme. This includes the 622,500 available through the endowment element, whereby Government will match up to this value on donations raised by local private individuals and businesses.

Financial Services: Electoral Register

David Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will commission research into the impact on the credit services and debt collection industry of the combined effect of the proposed abolition of the edited electoral roll and the implementation of the Consumer Credit Act 2006.

Gareth Thomas: In line with the commitments made during the passage of the Consumer Credit Act 2006, the Government will review the Act after it has been in force for three years.
	The Government are committed to holding a public consultation to establish how removing the provisions that govern the edited register would impact not just on individuals but the economy as a whole. This will enable the Government to build a firmer evidence base about the advantages and disadvantages of the edited register and consider the way forward on the basis of the responses to the consultation. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the edited register and their Ministers will make a decision in due course on when the public consultation should take place.

Home Information Packs

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) of 21 October 2008,  Official Report, column 230W, on home information packs, what information the Office of Fair Trading holds on the number of penalty charge notices issued for breach of home information pack duties.

Gareth Thomas: The enforcing authorities in respect of the HIPS provisions are local weights and measures authorities, typically trading standards services. The OFT is not an enforcer and has no powers under the Act. The OFT cannot direct local authorities as to the priority they give or level of enforcement activity they take in relation to compliance with the HIP provisions. However, the Act requires that where a penalty charge notice (PCN) is issued the local authority informs the OFT. This is because the OFT has a duty, as the national regulator for estate agents, to consider the fitness of a person to be allowed to work as an estate agent and to take appropriate action, including warning or banning an agent, where their conduct falls short of legal requirements. The OFT would consider the receipt of a PCN as part of that process and a trigger to consider fitness under the Estate Agents Act 1979.

Retail Trade: Government Assistance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to assist owners of small retail outlets.

Patrick McFadden: Small retailers are in the same position as any other small business in terms of access to the generic support on offer to small businesses. A package of support to small businesses worth l billion in tax cuts and 2 billion of loan guarantees was announced in PBR 2008. Building on this, a number of measures to provide real help for business were launched in January 2009, including schemes to improve access to finance, help with cashflow and provide additional support for training.
	We have improved small businesses' experiences of Government through Business Link and by establishing businesslink.gov.uka one stop shop of online advice on how to start and grow a business. This has made it easier for businesses to access information on regulation, best practice, and financial support.
	We are providing more help for small businesses to weather current conditions through advice and support services. For example, Business Linkwith over 910,000 customers alreadyhave to date (5 March 2009) carried out nearly 32,000 free Health Checks for businesses since October 2008, hands on advice to help identify problems early and survive in the current financial climate. 13 per cent. of these businesses were in the wholesale and retail sector.

Street Trading: Penalty Notices

Julian Brazier: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he plans to give local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for illegal street traders.

Gareth Thomas: This Department intends to consult shortly on possible amendments to the current street trading regime. This consultation demonstrates the Government's commitment to presenting options for change following the publication on 10 February of research into street trading and pedlary commissioned from Durham university.
	We are also considering whether local authorities should be given access to new powers available under Part 3 of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008, which could allow them to impose civil sanctions (including fixed monetary penalties) for certain offences committed under street trading legislation.

Departmental Legislation

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 9 October 2008,  Official Report, column 785W, on departmental legislation, if he will update the information placed in the Library to include new offences created in 2008.

Maria Eagle: The information which the hon. Member requests goes across a number of Departments and both primary and secondary legislation. There are no immediate plans to update the information to include new offences created in 2008.

Departmental Translation Services

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Birkenhead of 25 February 2009,  Official Report, column 839W, on departmental translation services, what the cost for language translators and interpreters is for  (a) his Department and its predecessor and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years.

Jack Straw: The Ministry of Justice cannot provide the total cost for language translators and interpreters for each of the last five years, as this information is not centrally collated and can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
	However, figures are available for the 2007-08 financial year for some parts of the business:
	
		
			   
			   Translators  Interpreters 
			 MOJ HQ 272,877 (1)4,034,000 
			 HMCS 200,000  
			 OCJR 448 0 
			 NOMS 8,906 32,000 
			 (1) This figure is the total cost for interpreters' services in Her Majesty's Crown court in 2007-08. This is paid from the central funds budget. 
		
	
	There are no central records on expenditure in magistrates courts. This can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
	Tribunals are unable to differentiate between the cost of translators and interpreters. The total cost of those services in 2007-08 was 6,058,000. This figure includes services for people with visual and hearing impairments and travel expenses.
	Information for Her Majesty's Prison Service and the Probation Service are not held centrally and are available only at a disproportionate cost. I have asked for immediate work to be undertaken to improve the data which should be available to my Ministry and to Parliament, in this subject area.

Departmental Visits Abroad

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much expenditure was incurred in respect of overseas visits which  (a) he,  (b) other Ministers in his Department and  (c) his Department's senior officials undertook in 2008.

Jack Straw: Since 1999, the Government have published a list of all overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over 500. Information for the financial year 2007-08 was published on 22 July 2008,  Official Report, column 102WS and for the first time, included details of overseas visits undertaken by all Ministers. All travel by Ministers is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
	In respect of senior officials (taken to mean members of the senior civil service), details of foreign travel is not collated centrally as separate reporting of these details is not a requirement, and as such details could be gathered only at a disproportionate cost.
	All travel undertaken by all Ministry of Justice staff members, both SCS and non-SCS, is undertaken in line with the published rules for official travel within the staff handbook. The rules are in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
	Included in the following table are details of the official visits undertaken in 2008 by Ministers at the Ministry of Justice. Included within this table is also detail of the officials accompanying Ministers during these visits:
	
		
			  Minister  Date (2008)  Destination and purpose of visit  Number of accompanying officials  Total cost of travel and accommodation () 
			 The right hon. Jack Straw MP 12 to 16 February Visit to the United States of America (Washington/ Virginia/New York) for a range of bi-lateral and public engagements 4 x officials 1 x spouse 22.819.70 
			  5 to 6 June Visit to Luxemburg for Justice and Home Affairs Council 3 x officials 4,474.48 
			  10 to 17 September Visit to Vietnam and India for a range of bilateral and public engagements 4 x officials 1 x spouse 25,858.59 
			  24 October Visit with Lord Bach to Luxemburg for Justice and Home Affairs Council 3 x officials 1,599.75 
			  
			 The right hon. David Hanson MP 14 January Visit to prison ships, Rotterdam, Holland 3 x officials 1,138.30 
			  22 to 24 April Visit to large prison complex, Abuja, Nigeria 1 x official 4,551.00 
			  4 to 5 November Visit to Launch Bulgarian NOMS Twinning Project and Bulgarian prison/probation area, Sofia, Bulgaria 1 x official 1,390.10 
			  
			 The right hon. Michael Wills MP 9 to 10 April Visit to Geneva for the UN Examinations on Human Rights 4 x officials 2,143.73 
			 Lord Bach 27 November Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels 1 x official 409.32 
			  
			 Maria Eagle MP Maria Eagle MP did not undertake any foreign travel in a ministerial capacity during the period in question. 
			   
			 Shahid Malik MP Shahid Malik MP has not undertaken any foreign travel in a ministerial capacity since accepting the ministerial position at the MoJ in October 2008. 
			   
			 Lord Hunt Lord Hunt did not undertake any foreign travel in a ministerial capacity during 2008, prior to leaving in October. 
			   
			 Bridget Prentice MP 4 February Visit to Berlin to meet with the German Justice Minister 1 x official 777.00 
			  4 to 9 May Visit to India to liberalise further legal services 1 x official 10,083.00 
			  7 to 8 July Visit to Nice for Justice and Home Affairs Council 1 x official 1,953.40

Prison Sentences

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people  (a) under the age of 17 and  (b) aged 17 to 21 years have received a custodial sentence in each of the last five years.

David Hanson: The requested information is shown in the following table.
	The proportion of under-18s sentenced to custodyin comparison with all under-18 disposals (court and pre-court)has fallen in recent years from 4 per cent. to 3 per cent. That reflects a greater use of out-of-court disposals (according to the 2005-06 YJB annual statistics).
	
		
			  Number of offenders aged under 17 and 17 to 21 given custodial sentences 2003-07 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Immediate custody  
			 Aged under 17 3,438 3,472 3,347 3,477 3,220 
			 Aged 17 to 21 24,017 22,925 21,684 21,101 21,381 
			 Total 27,455 26,397 25,031 24,578 24,601 
			   
			   
			  Suspended sentence  
			 Aged under 17 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Aged 17 to 21 103 93 1,036 5,925 7,198 
			 Total 103 93 1,036 5,925 7,198 
			 n/a = not applicable  Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.  Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Racial Harassment

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1216W, on prisoners: racial harassment, what steps he has taken to reduce the number of the incidents of alleged racism; and how many such incidents took place in each year from 1995 to 2007.

Shahid Malik: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is committed to eradicating all forms of racism. The recently published 'Race Review 2008', which is available in the library of the House, sets out the current assessment of race equality in the Prison Service and recognises that there has been considerable success in moving towards the elimination of more blatant forms of racism.
	Among the ways in which this has been achieved is by making racist incident report forms (RIRFs) more accessible, we have also introduced a level of confidentiality, and improved confidence through increased external scrutiny of the reporting process locally.
	This has resulted in an increase in the number of reported incidents. While all reported incidents are taken seriously, few consist of serious allegations of misconduct by staff, and all such matters are subject to disciplinary investigation under the code of conduct and discipline.
	The following table presents the number of incidents of alleged racism reported by prisoners from 2004-05 to the presentprior to this there was no central record. The table distinguishes between reports about the behaviour of other prisoners and those concerning service provision or the actions of members of staff.
	
		
			   Total  Prisoner behaviour  Services/actions of staff 
			 2004-05 5,641 2,268 3,373 
			 2005-06 6,912 2,719 4,193 
			 2006-07 7,569 2,993 4,576 
			 2007-08 8,051 2,758 5,293 
			 2008-09(1) 6,862 2,186 4,676 
			 (1 )Figures for 1 April to 31 December 2008

Young Offenders: Merseyside

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1219W, what the average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders in Merseyside was in the latest period for which information is available.

David Hanson: Overall statistics on persistent young offenders (PYOs) for England and Wales and the Merseyside police force area are available from 1997 to 2007.
	These figures are designed to measure the speed and efficiency of the youth justice system, through monitoring the pledge to halve the average time from arrest to sentence for dealing with PYOs in England and Wales from 142 days in 1996 to 71 days. They are not designed to measure overall trends in youth crime, and will give a misleading picture of the true trend if used for this purpose.
	On 10 December 2008, the Secretary of State for Justice announced in a written ministerial statement that the PYO pledge would be dropped with effect from the end of 2008. This is therefore the last year for which PYO statistics will be published and compiled.
	The following table shows the average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders in England and Wales and Merseyside in each year from 1997.
	
		
			  Average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders 
			   England and Wales  Merseyside police force area 
			   Number of cases heard  Average interval (days)  Number of cases heard  Average interval (days) 
			 1997 16,010 141 695 153 
			 1998 18,605 125 726 138 
			 1999 21,151 108 773 116 
			 2000 23,131 95 820 111 
			 2001 25,393 76 966 91 
			 2002 26,116 68 999 65 
			 2003 26,086 66 1,016 81 
			 2004 26,363 69 1,046 82 
			 2005 27,037 68 835 75 
			 2006 28,252 72 797 65 
			 2007 30,683 65 955 63 
			 2008 28,834 57 624 53 
		
	
	The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) publishes the data in the able as National Statistics. Further information on persistent young offenders can be found on the dedicated page of the MOJ website:
	www.justice.gov.uk/publications/averagetime arresttosentencepyo.htm

Young Offenders: Merseyside

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1193W, on young offenders, how many young offenders have been placed on the intensive supervision and surveillance programme (ISSP) in Merseyside since 2001; and what assessment his Department has made of the comparative  (a) costs and  (b) re-offending rates arising from (i) ISSP sentences and (ii) custodial sentences.

David Hanson: A total of 1,294 young offenders have been placed on the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance programme (ISSP) since the programme commenced in Merseyside in July 2001. A detailed breakdown by year and youth offending team in the Merseyside area is provided in the tables.
	The cost of ISSP varies from region to region but the Youth Justice Board use an average cost of 8,250 per head. The average annual cost per custodial place at 1 April 2008 is:
	
		
			   Average annual cost per custodial place () 
			 Secure Children's Homes 210,610.46 
			 Secure Training Centres 156,167.59 
			 Young Offender Institutions 57,015.44 
		
	
	The Ministry of Justice publishes reoffending data based on disposal and this is available at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/reoffending juveniles.htm
	ISSP can be attached to a number of community sentences, to the supervision part of a detention and training order, on release from custody imposed for a serious offence or attached as a bail requirement. It is not possible to identify ISSP separately from centrally available data.
	
		
			   Bail  CRO( 1)  SO( 2)  SO/CRO ff bail ISSP( 3)  DTO( 4)  Sec 90-92( 5)  Total 
			  July 2001 to March 2003
			 St. Helens, Knowsley, Sefton 15 0 29 0 9 0 53 
			 Liverpool 15 0 39 0 6 0 60 
			 Wirral 32 2 26 0 1 0 61 
			  62 2 94 0 16 0 174 
			 
			  2003-04
			 St. Helens, Knowsley, Sefton 32 0 32 0 8  72 
			 Liverpool 51 0 61 0 5  117 
			 Wirral 25 0 27 0 4  56 
			  108 0 120 0 17  245 
			 
			  2004-05
			 Knowsley, St. Helens and Sefton 25 0 23 0 8 0 56 
			 Liverpool 20 1 60 1 24 0 106 
			 Wirral 24 0 28 0 10 0 62 
			  69 1 111 1 42 0 224 
			 
			  2005-06
			 Knowsley, St. Helens and Sefton 35 0 17 0 8 0 60 
			 Liverpool 26 0 42 5 40 2 115 
			 Wirral 11 0 21 0 9 0 41 
			  72 0 80 5 57 2 216 
			 
			  2006-07
			 Knowsley, St. Helens and Sefton 53 0 32 4 19 0 108 
			 Liverpool 25 0 27 4 20 4 80 
			 Wirral 30 0 18 0 9 0 57 
			  108 0 77 8 48 4 245 
			 
			  2007-08
			 Knowsley 13 0 11 2 7 0 33 
			 Liverpool 21 1 35 2 22 1 82 
			 Sefton 6 0 8 0 0 0 14 
			 St. Helens 9 0 3 1 6 0 19 
			 Wirral 17 0 16 2 7 0 42 
			  66 1 73 7 42 1 190 
			 Total ISSP in Merseyside since 2001   1,294 
			 (1 )Community Rehabilitation Order (2 )Supervision Order (3 )SO/CRO ISSP given after young offender has completed bail ISSP (4 )Detention and Training Order (ISSP applied after release from custody) (5 )Custodial sentence for most serious offences (ISSP applied after release from custody)

Young Offenders: Rehabilitation

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects the Youth Rehabilitation Order to be implemented.

David Hanson: The Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO) will be introduced towards the end of 2009.
	The YRO is designed to combine existing sentences into one generic sentence and will be the standard community sentence used for the majority of young offenders, replacing nine existing community sentences. It will offer practitioners and sentencers greater clarity and flexibility in the community sentencing framework and provide a more risk based approach to community sentencing for young offenders.
	The YRO will have attached to it a number of requirements and this will consist of a menu of interventions including programmes, reparation, treatment for drug misuse, supervision and curfew which the court can choose from to suit the individual offender taking into account the seriousness of the offence.